Bleached White
by Saij Spellhart
Summary: Ladybug hasn't seen her partner in months. In the wake of his disappearance rumors of a bleached white Chat have taken root across Paris. When Marinette gets ambushed in the alley behind her Parent's bakery she wakes up in an unfamiliar place but in the company of a very familiar figure. Has she finally found her partner, or a monster wearing his skin?
1. Bleached White

**This is a gift to ShadowLordScorpio on tumblr. They won my art giveaway over the summer, and asked for more Chat Blanc related things. **

**This is related to my Floofy-eared Chat Blanc AU, and should be considered the first installment in the series of oneshots.**

* * *

Lightning split the sky, the brief flicker of light spilling across an unconscious woman.

It was the rolling crackle of thunder off in the distance that roused Marinette into consciousness.

The musty stench of age and neglect stung her nose before her eyes could even begin adjusting to the dim light. But she knew right away that she wasn't someplace familiar.

Marinette recognized the plush texture of expensive blankets and a soft bed, but the space around her felt empty, her bleary eyes failing to pick out any shapes in the darkness. No furniture, just empty floor and walls.

Lightning spilled light into the room again cutting a terrifying silhouette against the windows. At first she thought it was Chat Noir hunched over, but there was something different. The edges of his figure looked pale... bleached like bone.

Then everything fell into darkness again but she could still make out his shape now that she knew he was there.

"Chat...?" Marinette tried to sit up and felt her head surge with dizzying pain. "Where am I?" She tried to recall memories, anything to help make sense of her current surroundings.

At the sound of her voice the Chat-like figure turned to look at her. But his eyes were all wrong. Blazing magenta cut through the darkness instead of the pleasant toxic green she was accustomed to.

Marinette saw him pull something away from his mouth and hiss, white fangs glinting dangerously, and suddenly the fetid stench of rotting cheese overpowered the general aroma of dust and neglect.

_Rotting cheese. Camembert._

Pain like a pounding hammer rippled through the back of her head, followed by memories. Memories of Chat's disappearance, a worried Ladybug searching for him in the dead of night for _weeks_, sightings and rumors of a bleached white Chat seen all across Paris. Marinette cleaning out her cheese reserves when Chat failed to visit her for two months straight. Angrily taking the spoiled cheese to the garbage can behind her parent's bakery... the smell had been so overpowering.

Those magenta eyes suddenly brought her back. Back to that alley, back to the creature who ambushed her in the darkness. So scared she stumbled and lost her footing... everything after was blackness.

Marinette reached up and touched the spot on the back of her head and hissed when pain lanced from a tender lump there.

"Chat..." she began again, in her silence he seemed to have returned to scarfing the foul smelling thing in his hands. "Where have you been?"

Magenta eyes fixed on her again, their demonic glow studying her from across the room.

A warm buzzing crawled from the inside of Marinette's jacket to the back of her collar.

"Something isn't right Marinette," Tikki whispered from the back of her neck. "That _is_ Chat. I know because I still feel Plagg. But... he's different. His aura is tainted."

The Chat figure finished licking the rotten smelling substance from his fingers and pitched a bag off to the side. The dim light of the window illuminated just enough for Marinette to recognize it. It was the bag the spoiled cheese had been in when she went to toss it.

"You ate all that spoiled cheese? But you _hate _cheese." She'd purchased it for his Kwami to eat and recharge whenever he came by to visit her. Chat Noir himself refused to even smell the stuff.

Chat moved from his spot by the window, slinking on all fours towards her, those demonic eyes never blinking.

A sudden wave of fear crawled up her spine making her limbs feel heavy like lead and her blood run cold.

He moved closer, reaching the edge of the bed and continuing to close in on her.

Her breath hitched when Chat crawled over the blankets until he was practically on top of her. His breathing was audible as if he were drawing sharp breaths through his nose, and it took him burying his nose in her hair to realize he was smelling her.

_The_ _temptation to slug him was almost unbearable._

This waaay overstepped their boundaries as mere friends, and it was even pushing it a little when he did it to Ladybug. Which she was _not_ right now.

"What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Marinette~," he suddenly purred. But this wasn't the cheerful greeting she was accustomed to; his tone sounded sick and low, almost sinister. "My little _friend_ from the bakery. You stink of... bread."

Well he wasn't wrong. She still lived with her parents even though she was twenty. To make ends meet she worked mornings in the bakery—which would definitely contribute to her smelling like baked goods. Her afternoons were spent running her online custom clothing store.

He pulled away from her and, despite the implication that she smelled bad, licked his lips like he was starving. There was a change in his expression, a sense of lucidity in his eyes that hadn't been there before.

"What _happened_ to you?" She pressed again more firmly.

"Why?" He sneered, finally moving away from her to settle back on his heels, crouched on the edge of the bed. "Are you afraid of me? Everyone else is." He bared his teeth for emphasis and she took a sharp inhale when light reflected off rows of sharp fangs.

"Why are you all white?"

Chat suddenly let out a mocking laugh, "What's the matter? Do you only take your Chats the way you take your coffee?"

"Quit evading all my questions!"

Chat sniffed and stood up from the bed, "If I tell you, you might sic Ladybug after me. I know you're friends with that Ladyblogger after all."

"Hawkmoth akumatized you." She'd had the inkling suspicion the moment she woke up and found him in bleached white leather, but had hoped it wasn't true. His aversion to Ladybug only confirmed her suspicion.

"Au contraire, _I _akumatized myself."

"And what difference does that make?"

He glared down his nose, a superior expression etched along his features. "It means I am not that pathetic man's pawn."

As if Hawkmoth had been listening in (and perhaps he was) the glowing outline of a moth burned to life in front of Chat's eyes, and he suddenly screamed.

Marinette watched in horror as Chat hit the ground, and began writhing along the floor. She felt her heart clench at his cries of agony, and even when she clapped her hands over her ears they seemed to penetrate right through her.

Chat's claws gouged deep lacerations into the wooden floors, ripping up bits of splinters, while his boots kicked up dirt and dust. He writhed and struggled on the ground as if someone were torturing him, back arching, tail lashing, teeth gnashing, his pupils blown wide, but focused on absolutely nothing. The moth pattern in front of his face burned even brighter with a cruel intensity.

"No!" Chat snarled into the floor, dragging his canines over the boards. "Nononono—!" His frantic denial dissolved into an unintelligible scream of pain, and he rolled along the ground akin to a contortionist, limbs wildly swinging and slashing anything within reach of his claws. (Which given the barren state of the room, fortunately happened to be more floor.)

Marinette clamped her eyes shut, trying to shut out the horrible image before her. She couldn't watch this. She couldn't watch her partner suffer like this, akumatized or not.

"Tikki what do I do? He needs help!"

The Kwami pressed hot paws to the back of her neck, but it was far from comforting. "I don't know Marinette. Hawkmoth appears to be hurting him, trying to make him submit. But Chat's fighting it."

"And we cant stop this?" Marinette implored.

"He either has to give in, or fight passed it until Hawkmoth gives up."

The torture scene before them felt as though it played out for hours, despite only going on for a few minutes. The sound of Chat's agony echoed through the building and Marinette's head, until she was sure she'd be hearing his screams in her sleep. His claws were digging against the wood so savagely it was a wonder he didn't rip a whole in the floor and fall through.

"Look Marinette!" Tikki cried, slapping her paw against her chosen's neck to get her attention.

Marinette opened her eyes to find the glowing butterfly pattern flickering in strength. It blinked like an old neon light before flickering out completely, leaving Chat to pant against the floor in exhaustion.

"Perhaps it's just as taxing on Hawkmoth to inflict pain on his victims like that," Tikki pondered next to her ear.

With the absence of the glowing butterfly, the pain appeared to recede, and Chat's body went limp. His breaths were labored, rattling in and out of his lungs with effort, and saliva bubbled from the corner of his mouth.

He looked like a wounded animal.

Marinette hesitated for only a moment before surging forward and dropping to his side.

"Chat! Are you alright?" She placed a hand on his shoulder, but he didn't respond. "Oh god, please be alright." Her fingers traced over his ribs, before touching his side.

A shudder wracked his body.

Chat began wheezing like something was lodged in his throat. At first Marinette thought he was choking, until realizing it was akin to a cat coughing up a hairball. Seconds later he coughed an akuma onto the floor amid a puddle of saliva and iridescent purple butterfly scales.

The akuma attempted to take flight, clearly disoriented and flailing in the puddle of drool.

"Tikki, I'm not transformed!"

The Kwami leapt into action, diving at the butterfly before it could escape.

"You owe me for this, Marinette," she grumbled, lifting the slimy akuma to her mouth before adding, "Big time."

Marinette watched as her Kwami ate the akuma. Her mouth curled into a look of horror and disgust.

"I'm purifying it," Tikki explained in a matter-of-fact tone. "I can do that."

A moment later she burped out a completely white butterfly. They both watched it flutter towards the nearest exit.

Kwami and Chosen returned their attention to Chat to find he had passed out on the floor. His suit still shown as white as the moon.

"I don't understand," started Marinette, "Shouldn't that have fixed him?"

Tikki moved to hover next to his face, and placed a paw against his cheek. "Not if he's eaten more than just the one. Don't you think it's odd that we've hardly seen any akumas at all these past two months?"

"You son-of-a-bi—atch of cookies," Marinette swore at the unconscious man.

"Look on the bright side, Marinette. At least we've finally found him. And look how cute he is!" Tikki made a circle and grabbed the tip of Chat's ear between her paws. "He's got big fluffy ears." She giggled and let go before zooming down near his backside and lifting something long and furry off the floor. "And a big soft kitty tail!"

Marinette scooted closer, and pulled Chat's head into her lap for closer inspection.

Sure enough, right where his human ears should have been were two large and floofy cat-like ears. Complete with a couple of piercings on the left one.

"Just because he's cute now doesn't mean I'm going to forgive the hell he's put me through." She pushed the long blonde bangs away from his forehead, noting how his hair was damp with sweat. "I've been worried sick about you," she scolded his unconscious face.

"But look at that face." Tikki returned to tap him gently on the nose. "He looks so helpless."

Marinette cocked her head to the side, _Maybe a little. _In his unconscious state his features had smoothed out and she could see the gentleness of Chat Noir again. "So how do we make him cough up the rest of the akumas?"

Tikki moved down his chest, illuminating parts of him with the pink glow from her own body, She stopped to touch one of his over-sized lapels and giggled. "I suppose we'll just have to try trial-and-error."

* * *

**I'll be posting more oneshots and stories for this AU. Let me know if you enjoyed this and would like to see more.**


	2. Bleached White part 2

**I accidentally wrote a continuation to Chapter 1. This is a direct continuation to the first chapter. Enjoy.**

* * *

"So what's the plan for when he wakes up?" Tikki flitted around the interior of the small studio-style apartment, her soft glow illuminating things just enough to see.

"I have absolutely no idea." Marinette's eyes followed the Kwami around the room, scrutinizing the place Chat had brought her to.

The tip of a long furry tail twitched.

It wasn't the most amazing place. In fact the building might as well have been condemned, judging from the vacancy and the dilapidated state of the interior. A quick peek out into the hall had confirmed the vacant state of the building. Apartment doors were crooked on hinges, left open, or gone completely. The stairs leading to the lower floors were rotten and sagging in places, and the hand rail long missing.

"At least I don't see any rats." Marinette hugged her arms at the thought of the building being infested.

"Maybe Chat ate them all," Tikki giggled and grabbed her toes.

A floofy ear flicked.

"Gross! Don't say that."

"His breath did smell pretty awful," Tikki added thoughtfully.

"It was the cheese," Marinette defended on his behalf. "It was that rotten cheese he ate." She didn't even want to imagine her partner eating nasty rats that he caught in a nasty abandoned building. Her mouth had been on that mouth before. (Thankfully not since he'd been akumatized, but _still_.)

"From the way he ate that cheese, I suspect he hasn't eaten in a good long while."

A second ear twitched to life, brushing an eddy of dust off the floor.

Marinette felt her chest compress painfully as she spared her suffering partner a pitying look.

"Should we hang around to see if he coughs up another akuma, or leave him here and come back tomorrow?"

The storm that had been raging outside when she'd first woken up had worn itself out to a tired grumble. It was late at night, but if she transformed she could make it home before getting too drenched. There was a lull in the lightning. If she left now the risk of getting struck was significantly low.

Another twitch at the end of the tail, before the whole thing came alive with a sudden lashing movement.

Besides, her parents were probably worried sick, what with their daughter just up and disappearing after taking cheese out to the trash.

"It's probably best if we go home for now," said Tikki. "We can try to help him in the morning." She zipped across the room to settle on her host's shoulder.

Marinette gave her Kwami a soft smile and stroked the top of her head. "Yeah, I'm ready to get out of this place."

Sparing Chat one last glance, noting he was still unconscious and sprawled across the floor, she started for the exit. She had almost made it to the threshold when a floorboard betrayed her departure, creaking like a scream from the damned beneath her foot.

She froze despite herself. A shiver of terror she could only describe as instinctual slithered down her spine like cold gravy. It was the feeling one could only attribute to being _hunted._

Marinette looked over her shoulder hoping to find Chat still unconscious.

Blazing magenta pierced the darkness, burning with the intensity of the molten rock. Large round pupils that should have been black as coals, burned an iridescent white, like will-o-wisps caught in a fiery hell.

He looked like a demon. The lucidity she'd seen before was nowhere to be found.

"Run," Tikki said quietly into her ear.

Marinette swallowed thickly. "What?" her voice barely a whisper.

Chat eyed her like a predator zeroing in on its prey.

The little red Kwami buried itself in her hair and hissed again with even more urgency. "Run, Marinette!"

Her feet were moving before her mind could even catch up. She threw herself at the door just as she saw Chat surge up from the floor in her peripheral vision.

Marinette didn't even look back, tumbling out the door of the apartment and booking it towards the stairwell at the edge of the landing.

Claws scraping in the apartment alerted her that Chat was already up. A terrifyingly low growl confirming that he was not feeling particularly friendly.

She took the stairs two at a time, wishing that handrail had still been intact.

The landing shook, alerting her that Chat had leapt out of the apartment after her.

"Shouldn't you be transforming?" Tikki called next to her ear.

"Not unless I want to reveal myself to Chat _and_ Hawk Moth." Marinette reached the next floor and hopped over the gap to the next set of stairs. She could hear Chat already barreling down the steps above her.

"The alternative is being dead!"

"You really think Chat would kill me?" Her foot caught on a broken board, and she stumbled down the last few steps and onto the next landing. Thankfully, she recovered quickly and started for the next stairwell.

"I don't think Chat is _sane_ right now," Tikki stressed. "The intentions I sensed radiating from his energy were borderline murderous."

"Maybe Hawk Moth finally took control of him?"

Wood splintered above them, and it sounded like Chat hit one of the rotten steps. His angry scream echoed through the building, and they could hear claws scrabbling against wood and metal.

"I think he's just gone feral," said Tikki. "That much pain is enough to drive anyone a little crazy."

She hit the ground floor, her luck still holding out given she's only stumbled a few times, and not enough to really slow her down.

Above her, the feral white Chat was still hot on her heels and closing in.

"Your definition of _a little crazy_ and mine are wildly different, Tikki."

Marinette came up on the entrance to the front of apartment building and prayed that it wasn't locked.

Thankfully Tikki was already one step ahead of her, zipping out of her hair and phasing inside the door. Before Marinette's hand had even reached the door knob, the locks were clicking a release.

She didn't dare look over her shoulder and see how close Chat was. The hairs on the back of her neck were already telling her that he was far too near.

Without a moment of hesitation, she forced open the door and darted out, taking her first breath of fresh but wet night air.

Using her body weight, Marinette slammed the door shut behind her, just in time to feel something heavy crash into the other side, making the hinges groan.

The sound of the locks sliding home was like a sigh of relief, and Tikki phased out of the door to join her.

Marinette took off running again, her lungs burning, but her body insistent to survive.

The sound of Chat slamming against the door got further away as her own breaths got louder and louder.

All the buildings in the neighborhood looked the same: old and decrepit, some of them being renovated, some left to rot. She ducked down one side street and then another, trying anything to throw him off. She didn't even have the space of mind to realize that she had no clue where she was or where she was going.

"We should transform now," Tikki urged.

_You're right, _Marinette wanted to agree, but the only sound that left her was ragged wheezing.

_Spots on._

_Spots on!_

"Sp-spo—!"

Chat's scream interrupted her call for transformation. She snapped her head around only to see him plunging at her from a nearby roof, all fangs bared and manic eyes on fire.

It was as if someone had ripped open his face and it was all teeth inside.

This was it. It was all over.

Her eyes slammed shut, and she curled in on herself. His feral scream searing itself into her mind.

He would kill her, and the last thing she would ever hear was—

"Shelter!"


	3. Take My Hand

**Chronologically this oneshot takes place several weeks after the previous oneshot. I wrote this one back in August for a writing collab with several other writers on tumblr and AO3. The prompt for this one was "Take My Hand."**

* * *

She let out a deep breath, paused and listened, but only heard silence on the other side of the door.

After so many visits she should've been accustomed to the musty stench of decay and neglect, and yet, it stung her nose when she took a new breath.

"Chat?" Marinette finally forced the door open, mentally prepared for the awful creak it would make on aged hinges.

But it never came.

The door swung open with such relative ease that she was almost afraid someone had thrust her into a silent film. The apartment equally quiet, bathed in the waning light of dusk. The long shadows and filtered light only serving to play up the silent movie era.

"Chat?" She called again, taking her first step into the apartment. Floorboards creaked under the weight of her steps, breaking the eerie silent spell of the place.

No one was inside. There was a bed against the wall, covered in expensive blankets and pillows. Beige drapes hung over the window, sporting damages reminiscent of cat claws. There wasn't much else in the studio style apartment, a disused kitchen, and a bathroom, both equally empty.

From the only furniture, it was obvious that the creature that lived here preferred sleeping above all else.

She took another step into the apartment, fingers playing with the strap of a small duffel bag slung across her shoulder. She could feel Tikki in her pocket, the Kwami radiated warmth and comfort as usual.

"I could've sworn I told you to leave," a chilling voice sounded near her ear. She felt the sudden warmth of a body behind her, and the weight of his presence.

"I did," Marinette snapped around to face him, "And now I've come back." She was met with mildly amused cat eyes, made even more unusual by their startling magenta hue.

Chat Blanc straightened up to his full height, before his lips pulled back over sharp canines. "Cheeky." He pushed passed her and into the room. He was almost deliberately too close, and Marinette shuddered when the cold bleached leather brushed her skin.

There was a certain amount of poise in all of Chat Blanc's movements. It was the kind of confidence Chat Noir always had, being a model (or so he claimed) and a superhero, except amplified. Chat Blanc knew he looked good, and knew how to carry himself; so whether or not he was aware he had the attention of the room's only other occupant, he made a dramatic show about flopping on his lavish out-of-place bed.

Dust particles took to the air, glittering in the last rays of waning sunlight streaming in between the tattered curtains. While the rest of Chat stayed indulgently stretched across the bed very much like a lazy feline, his tail swished disturbing the stagnant air.

"If you've come to _nice _me until I cough up a butterfly again, you can get out. I ate a new one today."

Marinette started to say something, a curse stuck to the tip of her tongue, bitten back. It would be taking a step back to scold him for eating a butterfly, leaving him satisfied with himself and most likely telling her to leave. The fact that he kept consuming akumas made purifying him a chore, but she was winning so long as she got him to cough up more butterflies than Hawk Moth could make.

"Guess, I'll take all this cheese and wine, and party at home then."

That got his attention.

Fluffy white ears perked up, swishing eddies of dust with every twitch.

"I despise cheese." He grumbled, keeping the bottom of his face buried among the blankets.

Marinette sucked in a breath, steeled her nerves, and crossed the distance of the room. She paused next to the bed, hesitating, considering the space on the blankets.

"Don't you even dare."

"Am I supposed to sit on the floor?" she scoffed.

"You aren't supposed to be here at all."

A nervous wiggle shuddered down her body, and Marinette forced herself to sit down on the bed next to him. She settled the duffel bag into her lap and unzipped the top. The pungent scent of cheese escaped into the room, curling her nose hairs, and making her flinch.

"Mmmm look at all this Camembert," she sang, attempting not to breath. Her eyes darted to the side, sneaking a peek at the man next to her.

Chat's fur bristled, his tail flicking up, and slit pupils fixed on the duffel bag in her lap.

"Are you sure you don't want any?" She lifted a wedge of Camembert from one of the round boxes.

"No," Chat lifted his head, and Marinette could see his nostrils flaring with each breath as if savoring the smell in the air.

She leaned closer to him, holding out the wedge. "No, you aren't sure~?" A rumbling growl confirmed that Chat Blanc probably hadn't eaten in more than a day.

He didn't say a word, but was drawn to her hand like a moth to a lamp. A thin pink tongue curled over one lip, then down a sharp elongated canine.

"Don't bite me, Chat," she offered the cheese, holding it out on the tips of her fingers.

Magenta eyes flickered up to her, considering, cautious, before dropping back down to the cheese. She watched Chat Blanc lean in, his mouth open and a drop of saliva oozing from his bottom lip. His fangs glistened in the poor light, sharp... _dangerous._

It was everything she had to keep from flinching away. To stay brave in the face of such volatile temperament.

His lips closed around her fingers, taking the piece of cheese and swallowing it whole.

When she tried to retract her hand, his claws shot out snapping around her wrist to hold her still. This time when a shudder wracked her body it was from excitement. Chat's rough tongue curled over her fingertips, cleaning the remnants of the cheese off them one by one. His lips slipped father down, and Marinette could feel her pulse beneath her skin.

He swallowed again, Adam's apple bobbing, then pulled away and made a smacking sound. This time when he looked up at her his pupils were blown wide, and she could see her reflection in their inky depths.

Her breaths came quicker, attempting to compensate the pounding of the pulse in her ears. She didn't even comprehend the stench of the camembert anymore.

"See I... uh, knew you liked cheese."

Chat Blanc suddenly shook himself. Starting from his head and working it down his body, only to finish with a few sharp lashes of his tail. When he opened his eyes again, his pupils had returned to their previous slivered state.

Marinette made a squeak when he suddenly flopped onto her lap and rolled on his back, so that the back his head rested on her thighs.

"Feed me."

"Excuse me?"

"You insist on coming here, you sit on my nest, you taunt me with treats. Feed me."

Marinette pressed her pointer finger to the tip of his masked nose. "_You_, don't order me around. You want something, you ask for it."

Chat bared his teeth, and narrowed magenta eyes at her. An irritated growl rose up in the back of his throat, and she could feel it in her thigh.

Tikki felt the change in his temperament and began to buzz hotly in her pocket, readying in case Marinette needed her, and warning her host to tread cautiously.

_Don't let him bite you, Marinette. _Tikki's warning sounded in the back of her mind. _Whatever happens, don't let him bite you._

She bit the inside of her cheek, and pressed forth. "Knock that off."

The growl puttered out in the back of his throat, and Chat blinked up at her. A second later his lips pulled back into a sneer. "You talk like Ladybug."

"Maybe I am," Marinette sneered back. She met his eyes, one for one holding his stare and refusing to back down.

She noted Chat's floofy ears falling in her peripheral, and his jaw went slack.

They could have heard the dust settling.

A low chuckle broke the silence, and Chat Blanc erupted into disbelieving snickering.

"You laugh! But you don't know!" she defended, shutting him up by shoving another wedge of Camembert into his open maw. The laughing died out as he coughed on the unexpected cheese.

Marinette pressed her lips in a tight line, attempting to soothe her anxiety and disappointment. She was tempting fate. If Chat Blanc realized she was Ladybug it could end badly. That was always a possibility. And yet she wanted so desperately to tell him, because she wanted so desperately to confront him. Ask him why he disappeared, and continued to elude Ladybug, why he shunned her help.

She continued to feed him pieces of cheese while her thoughts roamed. Thoughts about her partner swamped her brain, filling her with melancholy for what was lost, but he didn't seem to notice.

When she popped open the bottle of wine to take a drink, he held his mouth open expectantly.

The temptation to purposefully splash it over his face was strong.

Really, Chat Noir was still there, trapped under amplified negative emotions and the effects of akuma possession. But she could see him sometimes. He was there in a look, or an unconscious gesture. As if the cruel white exterior was no more than a murky film on the surface of his heart. He just needed help to wash it off.

_I can't do this on my own Chaton, you have to help me._

It was the comforting rumble from his chest that made her realize she'd stopped feeding him cheese and was fingers deep in his mane of blonde hair. Something she's always done with Chat Noir, but never with Chat Blanc.

Shock, like ice, crawled down her back and her nails ceased massaging his scalp.

His purr fizzled out and both of them became deathly still.

"Please?" he asked in a low _low _murmur.

"What was that, Chaton?" The use of his nickname was a slip, she hadn't called him that since he changed. "I couldn't hear you."

A growl started in his throat.

"I thought you didn't like me to touch you," she teased, making to extract her hand from his hair.

"Pet me, woman!"

Marinette was stifling a laugh when she sank her fingers into his hair, but the smile that broke out across her face managed to make tears well up in the corners of her eyes.

It took longer this time to get his purr to start up again, as he seemed to be fighting it. It wasn't until her hands started rubbing the velvety fur on his ears that the low rumble of thunder broke. It rippled from the base of his throat and reverberated in his chest. She could feel the vibrations subtly shaking through her legs. It made her feel... _good._

He cracked half-lidded magenta eyes, "if you tell anyone..."

"Not a soul," she promised, and watched his eyes drift closed once more.

...

Night had completely settled over Paris by the time Marinette gathered her things to leave. She finished storing the rest of the cheese in the dilapidated mini-fridge in the kitchenette, surprised that the appliance still functioned, albeit poorly.

Turning back to the living area, she saw Chat Blanc watching her. His eyes glowing eerily in the darkness. She could just make out his white form sprawled over the bed where she'd left him.

"You're leaving." It wasn't a question.

"Yeah, I need to get home before my parents start worrying." Not that Marinette couldn't stay out however long she wanted, or spend the night at a friends. She was eighteen after all. But her parents served as an acceptable excuse not to linger here.

Chat's ears twitched, responding to the wail of far off sirens. A reminder that it was a long walk home, and not always through the best neighborhoods.

He rose up from the bed, and liquid white mass arching up like a macaroni noodle. His tail curled before lashing back and forth, glowing magenta disappearing as he shut his eyes, really getting into the stretch.

"I will take you home."

Marinette could only blink at him. "I can- I can fine. I'm walking fine uh... walking."

He ignored her stammering, and oozed off the bed, sauntering over to the window. The fresh night air that blew in when he threw open the windows disturbed another cloud of dust from the sill. He pushed the tattered curtains aside, and stepped out.

In the poor light from the city outside, she watched Chat Blanc pull his staff from the back of his belt and extend it down to the ground. He mounted the metallic staff with all the ease of a pole dancer, trusting his body to know exactly how to grip it to hold on. His left boot the only thing keeping him anchored to the sill.

Marinette didn't even realize she'd gravitated to the window until he held his clawed hand down to her.

It was an invitation.

This wouldn't be the first time she'd traveled this way, over the rooftops of Paris. She was Ladybug after all, and definitely no stranger to swinging through the streets with her yo-yo. She was also no stranger to hitching a ride with Chat Noir, and letting him pole-vault them through the Parisian skies.

But Chat Blanc wasn't aware of any of this.

She eyed his offered hand, deliberating whether it would be safer just to walk home. If anyone saw her with Chat Blanc it would raise a serious amount of questions. It could be dangerous for both of them. The police wanted him after all; although he was her partner, he was still an akuma right now. One that Ladybug had yet to take care of.

Chat Blanc heaved a sigh through his nose, and curled the tips of his fingers in a "well, c'mon," gesture.

He would think her hesitance to be fear. Fear of heights, or fear of him. It was neither.

Stuffing her worries aside, Marinette realized she wanted this and slipped her hand into his. His grip tightened, pulling her up onto the rotting sill, and into his chest.

"Put your arms around my neck, and don't let go," he instructed. The warmth in his words almost caught her off guard, but made her chest burn. She locked her arms around the back of his neck, her body draped over his front, toes barely touching the sill anymore.

His arm closed around her back, hugging her to his chest, and when he lifted away from the building she shut her eyes out of instinct. She wasn't in her super suit, which left her feeling oddly vulnerable this far off the ground.

"I don't want to make the front page news tomorrow." She warned him. Although it was probably too late for that concern since she was already in his arms.

A chuckle rumbled through his chest. "No one will see us at night."

"No one will see us?" Marinette balked, "You're white! You glow worse than a hotel room under a blacklight!"

He dismissed her concerns with an amused snicker.

Up, up, up, Chat took her. She felt the movement. Could feel the air rushing over them as they got higher in the sky.

"Open your eyes."

She did, peeling her face away from his shoulder to look out across the city-scape. The silhouettes of buildings decorated the landscape below them, glittering and alive with a myriad of lights. A scene she'd seen a thousand times over.

But Chat Blanc wasn't aware of this either. In his mind, he was putting the charms on a lady. Showing off, being smooth.

It was everything she had not to giggle. "It's lovely," she told him instead.

Chat beamed. Seemingly satisfied with her response, he tipped the balance of the staff and sent them careening forward.

Although she was prepared, her stomach still dropped out when he retracted the staff only to extend it again and send them flying up into the night again. Chat's method of travel had never been as smooth as hers, and not something she'd grown accustomed to. She ended up tightening her grip around Chat's neck in spite of herself, and if he smirked she never saw it.

In a fraction of the time it would have taken her to walk, he was delivering her to the balcony above her bedroom. The relief of her feet touching down against something solid shuddered up her entire body.

"This," he began, "will be the last time I escort you home, Miss Dupain-Cheng." Chat Blanc knocked the end of his staff against the balcony for emphasis.

"I never asked you to." She pulled her arms from around his neck and stepped out of his embrace. "If I didn't know any better I'd think you were concerned for my safety."

His eyes narrowed at her mocking tone, claws snapped out to hold her chin, tilting her face to meet his. "You are never _safe_ around me," he growled out.

He was close. She could catch his scent, leather, fur, and a natural masculine smell laced with cheese. So close that if she just stood on her toes she'd be kissing him.

Before that thought could even settle he was away from her. Cold air rushed to fill his absence, and she almost fell forward into the balcony railing. By the time she recovered, Chat Blanc was nothing but a ghostly form disappearing behind the chimney of a neighboring rooftop.

"You'll see me tomorrow," she hummed.

...

From two rooftops away, he watched her lift the hatch to her bedroom, and retreat inside for the night.

"She's going to be back tomorrow isn't she?" he asked no one in particular.

There was a part of him that thrilled over the fact that she had been unsuccessful tonight. That he had come away from the evening with all the akumas still fluttering away in his stomach.

And then there was the part of him that sat there, clutching his staff and staring at the space where she had been, with a pensive expression. The part that wondered what she had planned for tomorrow, and when she would show up. The same part that would be disappointed if she didn't show up.

Chat suddenly coughed into his hand, hard and painful. Tears stinging the corner of his eye.

When he pulled his palm away there was a smear of saliva stained purple from butterfly scales.

"Son of a bitch."

* * *

**The next set of Chat Blanc oneshots I've written are M rated, and wont be posted under Bleached White. At this time im unsure whether to share them here, but you can find them on AO3 under the title Velvet Soft. If you want me to post Velvet Soft here, let me know. **

**The Bleached White collection will stay T rated.**


	4. Kitty Cuddles

**This takes place well after the oneshots: Bleached White, Take my Hand, and Velvet Soft.**

* * *

Chat Blanc felt the wind knocked out of him.

The butt end of Rena's flute slammed into his solar plexus. It was hard enough to send him flying back and when he hit the roof his head smacked against the tiling so hard he was seeing stars.

Rena Rouge stalked across the roof towards him, a predatory gleam of satisfaction in her eyes.

"Had enough?"

Chat coughed and took a painful inhale.

She stepped around his leg making certain he wouldn't try to sweep her feet.

She was too distracted by what he might do with his legs to watch out for his staff. He clicked the button on the side, causing it to shoot forth and strike her in the stomach.

Rena let out an "oof," noise, and he took that moment to knock her feet out from under her, sending her sprawling across the roof next to him.

Chat retracted the staff and smashed her across the cheek with it. It was a solid blow that caused her to flinch and recoil away, making a hissing noise as she sucked air between her clenched teeth.

He clicked the button to extend it again and send her flying off the building, but Rena grabbed the staff, twisting it from his grip, angling it before thrusting, and slamming it into his jaw.

"God, you are so slow today," she spat. She retracted his staff back into a small baton and tossed it out of reach.

Chat Blanc hissed and gripped his face, curling away from her and clearly done fighting. The force of the hit had caused several of his fangs to slice up his lip, cheek, and the inside of his mouth. Blood and saliva dribbled out over his chin, staining the white leather of his gloves.

"Either the lack of akumas in your belly is causing you to slip up, or you really wanted to talk today." Rena rubbed her cheek, soothing the bruise that would no doubt boast spectacular colors later. She moved to stand over him, her arms crossing over the end of her flute, as she leaned against it.

"Fuck off."

"If you really meant that, you wouldn't have picked a fight with me," Rena pointed out. "So what's eating you this time, Killer?"

Chat rolled over still clutching the side of his face.

Suddenly a weight pressed to the middle of his tail, pinching it against the roofing tile.

"Spill, Kit-cat." Rena applied a little more pressure with her boot, watching as Chat Blanc winced.

"It's been weeks..." he whined under his breath. He threw his arm over his face so he wouldn't have to see the smug expression on the Fox heroine.

"Yeah?" Rena was aware just how long it had been. She'd been watching (and listening) to both sides.

"I don't understand."

"Why she's avoiding you?"

Chat sucked in a hard breath, noting the way his ribs hurt. There would be bruises for sure, and a damn miracle if none of them were cracked.

Finally he whispered, "yes," and moved his arm to dig claws into his temple in frustration. "How do I make her want me again?"

Rena spared him a pitying look that he couldn't see. _Oh dear_. Her thoughts wandered back to the yearning look Ladybug had fixed on Chat when they'd fought the akuma earlier. The way she'd watched him with such sadness while he sat sulking on a distant rooftop observing the battle but refusing to compete with them for the akuma like he normally would have.

"Have you tried talking to her?" Rena knew the answer to this already. Marinette had spent the last few weeks moping at her place and hiding from Chat Blanc.

"How can I when I can't even find her?" Chat lamented. He threw out his arms dramatically and let his body go limp against the whole roof.

"Hmmm," she tried to play it cool. "I have it on good authority that Marinette will be home tonight. Maybe a certain Tomcat could take a detour to the bakery."

"How do you know this?" His nose wrinkled and he fixed her with a scowl.

"I like to gossip." Rena winked at him and grinned. It was actually because she had plans with Nino tonight, and Marinette didn't want to be around for all that hot, hot turtle on fox _romance_. "But you didn't hear it from me, ok? Ladybug would skin me alive."

"Why would Ladybug care?" He sat up at the sound of her name, ears perking forward and tail swishing despite himself.

"Oh uh..." Alya raised a finger to her mouth and cocked her head to the side. "It's a secret." It didn't escape her notice that Chat was still fixated when it concerned Ladybug. Chat Blanc may have grown infatuated with Marinette, but Chat Noir was still hopelessly smitten with his Lady. She delighted in the thought of how he would react should he find out they were one and the same.

"You take care, Tomcat." Rena blew him a kiss, before twirling her flute. "I have a date tonight." With that she took off, hopping away across the roof tops, but favoring her right ankle.

Chat Blanc was left to mull over the information she had provided.

Should he trust the fox? Was she even trying to help him?

...What did he have to lose?

0000

The lights were on down in the bakery when he arrived at Marinette's balcony. But her bedroom was dark as could be, same as it had been for the past few weeks.

A swell of disappointment churned within his gut, eating away at his insides.

It was his own fault for getting his hopes up. He should have known better than to trust that lying fox.

Chat should have just turned away and gone back to his place. He should have have slunk back to his decrepit apartment and curled up in his empty bed with pillows that had long since lost her scent.

His heart clenched and he found himself stepping down from the railing just to run his tail over her balcony furniture.

He paused at her chaise lounge, claws tracing the edge, glowing eyes considering it in the darkness.

Chat turned away and dragged his tail over that too.

Crouching down over the trap door, he peered into her bedroom. It was empty, just as he suspected. The same half-finished projects strewn about with no more progress made on them than the last time he'd visited.

_Of course_.

He entertained the thought of breaking into her bedroom, tossing the place, shredding her projects, and rending the paint from the walls with his claws. The feline in him even wanted take a moment to piss on her rug.

Chat bit it all back.

_That's just the akumas talking. You don't actually want that. You don't want to hurt her, even if you're hurting right now. _

He shut his eyes, and took a couple deep breaths. _You will not give in. _His tongue soothed the wounds on his lip.

_I should leave, _he continued to tell himself. _Go home, curl up, and just sleep it all away until Hawk Moth decides to torture me again._

After a moment of deliberation Chat Blanc picked the lock on the trap door with his claws and dropped into her bedroom.

Magenta eyes scanned the room and his ears twitched about picking up on the subtle noises from her parents in the bakery below. It was much nicer here. Softer, cleaner, and it smelled good.

Determining that he would not be discovered, Chat collapsed into the bed and buried his face among the pillows.

One deep inhale, then another. The muscles along his back tensing, and a shiver rolled down his spine.

God dammit, he'd missed her scent.

Chat sank his teeth into one of the pillows and thoughtlessly began kneading.

He could get drunk on this scent. He probably _was_ drunk on it. He found it hard to care.

The kneading was soon followed by rolling around, displacing all the blankets and pillows and vigorously rubbing the sides of his face on everything. Chat did this for several minutes before he wore himself out. Relaxing into the bed, surrounded by her things and her scent, he let himself pretend she was there, eventually falling asleep.

0000

While Rena had gone off on her own, Carapace and Ladybug had a one-on-one talk on the roof of Alya's apartment building. She'd explained her reservations about purifying Chat, and why she was hesitating. Admitting to the new guardian that she knew her reasons were selfish, and that Tikki had scolded her time and time again already.

And yet, here she was, caught between a rock and two sets of teeth.

Of course, Carapace didn't have the answers she wanted to hear.

Nobody did.

Because nothing could justify leaving Chat akumatized.

"It's not fair to him or his Kwami to keep him like this."

He took sides with Tikki on this one, as he should, being the Guardian of the miracle box and all. Which left Marinette in the same boat she'd been in before.

"You know," Carapace had added, "it defeats your purpose of keeping him an akuma if you're just going to avoid him anyway. Doesn't it?"

_Damn him. _But he was right.

Ladybug left Carapace to mull over her own thoughts. She made a few trips around the city, but her mind only followed suit in the same circles.

Sooner or later she was going to have to suck it up and face Chat Blanc again. Recover the last handful of akumas he'd eaten, and purify him... and make him forget everything.

She just didn't want to admit that she hoped it would be later rather than sooner.

Ladybug's feet touched down in the alley behind the bakery, and she proceeded to drop her transformation. Quiet as a mouse she snuck in the back door, passed the bakery where her parents were working late on a special order, and up through the apartment towards her neglected bedroom.

How long had she been avoiding home just so Chat wouldn't find her?

Marinette dragged her fingers through inky black bangs and let out a heavy sigh.

_I can't keep doing this. _

She pushed open the door to her bedroom. Climbing the stairs while her hands worked to free her hair of the pigtails.

Marinette was halfway into the room when she noticed the long white tail hanging off the end of her loft.

"Oh shit," the slip of a curse had her clapping her hands over her mouth and hoping it didn't alert him.

Surprisingly Chat Blanc didn't even stir. Only the tip of his tail twitched occasionally the way a cat's does.

_Run? Stay? _She _really_ wanted to stay.

Tikki fluttered out of her purse and fixed Marinette with a pointed look.

_I'm working on it!_ She returned the look in kind.

The Kwami rolled her eyes and jabbed a paw in the direction of the loft before zipping off towards the drawer where she kept her cookie stash.

_Well_, lamented Marinette, _If I was going to run now, I'd have to stay Marinette._

000

At the sound of the trap door being thrown open Chat started awake.

_She was here. She was here. She was here, the fox hadn't lied to him at all. _It took every ounce of self-control he possessed to keep his body relaxed and pretend to be asleep.

Her exclamation of "oh shit," had him feeling annoyed. Was she displeased to see him? He was going to bet she was.

An eternity elapsed and he swore she was going to make a run for it. The beast inside readied itself, tensing to pounce should she attempt to flee.

However his contempt soon melted into relief when she approached the loft and started climbing the stairs. He felt the vibration of her every step, and heard her breath when she paused at the top.

Chat's tail flicked on its own, swishing to the left before coming back around and making contact with Marinette's leg.

She inhaled sharply.

He willed it to be still, but his tail continued to brush down the back of her leg, the end traitorously curling over her calf.

To his surprise her fingers stroked the fur on his tail. The touch was feather-light and almost torturous, it felt so good. After a twitch of pleasure he finally managed to lash his tail away as if it were indignant from being touched.

_Smooth._

The bed depressed next to him.

His heart began a frenzied beating against his rib cage. She had to hear it. How could she possibly not hear it?

He felt her settle beside him, sitting back on her feet. The smaller hairs on the back of his neck practically standing on end with anticipation when she placed her hand on the side of his stomach. Fingers traced one of the seams running down the side of his abs, catching on his belts, before following the seam the rest of the way down his left thigh.

Chat didn't want to admit that he would've killed for a belly rub right then. And yet as her fingers glided gently over the suit, he found himself wanting more. More pressure, more friction, to feel her nails massage flesh rather than bleached leather.

Marinette's hand retracted and he stifled a groan of protest in his throat.

It returned a moment later to stroke one of his velvety ears.

_Fuuuuuck..._ he wanted to purr so badly.

Chat missed this. He missed it so much it hurt. His claws twitched just to reach out and pull her into an embrace. He wanted to bury his face in her neck, inhale her delicious scent, and then rub the side of his face along every inch of her body until she could no more part from his scent than she could her own skin.

Marinette's thumb made circles along the inside of his ear. Her touch was careful, and slow, almost too gentle. He willed himself not to lean into it. Eventually she worked her way to the two gold earrings in his left ear. They were a remnant of Adrien, something he'd gotten done on a whim after his Father had been particularly insufferable. Father had thrown a tantrum over it, but Adrien was an adult and stood his ground, refusing to remove them.

For someone so pure and kind to be touching the instrument of such spite...

But her touch was reverent. Adoring as she played with the piercings and it felt like some of the bitterness was cleansed with those touches.

Here she was cleansing him. Be it akumas, his heart, and now... parts of his soul.

He should cleanse her too, he mused. With his tongue. It was only fair to return the favor after all.

When her fingers threaded into his hair Chat Blanc almost choked. The purr was there, lodged painfully in his throat, but he refused to let it slip and reveal he was awake.

He may as well have been pudding beneath her hand. The simple massaging was enough to render him boneless.

_I'm an akuma, I shouldn't be this easy._

Her delicious nails scratched his scalp, and he couldn't suppress the shudder that rolled down his body.

_For her. I make an exception only for her._

God, he needed her. Needed her like the air in his lungs, hot as the blood in his veins. He needed to feel her pulse beneath his touch, and taste the sweat on her skin. To savor her, embrace her. Bathe in her presence, until he forgot the rest of the world existed.

Chat had the urge to pin her down and mark her neck with his bites. So the world could see she belonged to him.

But he couldn't. Marinette didn't want him to bite her, so he would respect that.

Lost in his thoughts, she brought him back to the present when her hand caressed his jawline. He felt her thumb brush over his bottom lip and softly catch on one of his protruding fangs.

"What happened to you?"

Chat was reminded of the fight he'd picked with Rena Rouge, and the number she'd done on his mouth. The wounds his own teeth had left when they sliced into his lip and gums.

It was touching that she was concerned about it. And not because she was lamenting his damaged good looks, but out of genuine concern for his well-being.

Someone cared about him. Honest-to-God cared about him. Not because of what he could do for them, and not because of what he was worth, but just cared for the sake of caring. Because he was important to her for some reason. Some reason that he didn't have to earn or upkeep.

Unconditional. That's what they called it.

_Unconditional love_.

And he liked it.

Years spent trying to earn Ladybug's affections, and somehow Marinette had slipped under his radar, crawling into his heart with her gentle kindness, and unyielding spirit. He wasn't sure how she fell in love with him, or even why. He'd spent so long trying to keep her away from him.

The last handful of weeks intruded upon his memory like a sinister shadow, reminding him that she'd been avoiding him. That she hadn't wanted to see him, and that perhaps she did not want him anymore.

And yet here she was, stroking him like a kitten. If purification meant this could go on forever, that she would love him again, then he'd willingly give up all the akumas.

_Just take them and love me, Purrincess._

As if he said that aloud, she moved to lay on him. Her head pillowed against his shoulder, and her torso stretched over his side while her legs stayed curled beneath her on the bed. Her hand resumed playing with his hair, combing the long locks between her fingers.

"I missed you, Chaton."

And that's all it took. The vibrations in his chest came like water through a demolished flood gate, and suddenly he was purring so loudly he could feel it in the tips of his ears all the way down to the end of his tail.

_Please stay with me. _She knew he was awake now.

Marinette nuzzled her face against his shoulder and wrapped her arms around him. Her fingers dug into the leather, and one of her hands jostled the bell on his chest as she embraced him. His ears easily picked up her contented hum, even over the sound of his own thunderous purring.

It was all the answer he needed.


	5. Bully Me With Kindness

**This takes place after Bleached White and Take My Hand, but before Kitty Cuddles and Velvet Soft.**

* * *

"Just... let... me... have... the _butterfly, Chat!" _

Chat Blanc's jaws snapped shut just centimeters from Ladybug's face. It was by the grace of the Ladybug Miraculous that she'd snatched up Chat's baton and extended it just as he'd tackled her.

His manic eyes were demonic: pupils blown so wide the black almost overtook the color. In his crazed state he continued to snap his fangs at her like a wild animal, fighting against the pole that served as her only barrier against him.

She felt his claws rake savagely across the metal before slipping off and catching her in the ribs.

"_Shhhhfffffff!_" Ladybug sucked in a breath when those claws sliced through the super suit and grazed flesh.

She managed to knee him close enough to the groin that he flinched, which gave her an opening to throw him off.

_Now where did that akuma fly off to?_

A flash of black and purple movement in her peripheral vision was her only clue to the akuma's location before Chat lunged at her again.

Ladybug clicked the button on the side of his staff and swung with all her might. The end of the staff smashed Chat across the side of his skull and sent him tumbling to the side, one of his claws slashing her shin in the process.

"Do we really have to... go through this _every_ time you... cough up a butterfly?" she demanded, gasping to regain her breath.

Chat stumbled around the edge of the roof on all fours, looking very disoriented.

As an akuma he was faster and stronger than he'd ever been as Chat Noir, but it came with a price. One of them being that his sanity lapsed for short periods of time, usually the result of the pain Hawk Moth inflicted when attempting control him. But also after he expelled one of the many akumas he'd ingested.

Some bouts of the temporary madness were more manageable than others. This was one of those times when it got dangerous, much like the first time she'd seen him like this.

Chat shook off some of the disorientation, moving to approach Ladybug once more with all his fangs bared.

In one fluid motion Ladybug tossed her yo-yo, catching the fleeing akuma inside and yanking it back in just in time to use its momentum. The yo-yo made an arc around her body and cracked Chat Blanc on the underside of his jaw.

She watched him stumble back a bit and step on his own tail.

The yowl of pain he released echoed across Paris. One step too far back, his right boot missed the edge of the roof. Chat went down hard, his claws scrabbling to catch anything but only managing to pull loose some roofing tiles as he spilled over the edge.

Ladybug didn't even think. She dove after him.

Her breath caught in her throat as she leapt off the building behind him. She tossed out her yo-yo, catching it on a light post as her body surged for Chat.

Ladybug wrapped her arms around him just as her hand instinctively yanked the line, pulling them up before they both collided with the cobblestone street.

However, Chat's added weight caused an error in her trajectory and they both collided with the lamp post her yo-yo had caught instead.

_That's going to leave some bruises._

She released the line and they both collapsed to the ground in relative safety. The yo-yo returned only to pop open and release a purified butterfly.

She spared a look at her former partner and was relieved to find that his eyes had returned to a more normal state. His pupils were shrinking back down to slits, a sign that his lucidity was coming back.

_Looks like I managed to knock the sense back into you._

"Bye bye, little butterfly," she murmured more as an expression of relief for herself rather than her usual declaration of victory.

Chat let out a pained groan and rolled over on the ground. "Where am I?"

Ladybug chose to ignore that question and gave her body a quick assessment. There were several lacerations that were bleeding: one on her side, and another on her shin, and she could feel some tender areas that would definitely sport bruises later. The Ladybug Miraculous would expedite the healing process, but she was still going to have a time hiding all this.

_Maybe I can just tell everyone I got caught up in the akuma attack as Marinette. _

As if he'd read her mind, Chat lifted his head to look around them. "Marinette! Did I hurt her?"

_He's worried about me. _She felt her heart swell with warmth. God, it was hard to stay mad at him.

Chat Blanc had been following her home before all this started. He thought he was being so sneaky, but his white suit wasn't so hard to spot. She'd been paying more attention to him than her surroundings and failed to notice the car approaching when she crossed the street.

All it took for him to cough up an akuma was an act of selflessness.

The squeal of tires had been nearly deafening.

His claws made a sick crunching noise when they dug into the metal of the car hood, and his boots scraped across cobblestone as he used his supernatural strength to slow the vehicle before it hit her.

Like the hero he once was he'd saved her, but not a minute later he began violently hacking up an akuma.

The price he paid for kindness.

Marinette knew from experience that he would go feral after expelling the butterfly. She had slipped away while he was distracted and transformed just in time to keep a feral Chat Blanc from savaging one of the innocent bystanders.

"Where is the bakery girl?!" Chat's snarl brought Ladybug back into the present.

She tried to move her arm and winced when her shoulder felt strained.

"I'm sure she's dying to go home and take a bath in Epsom salt," Ladybug muttered under her breath, attempting to stand up and wobbling when her legs threatened to give out. "And apply some bandages before she bleeds to death."

"What!?" Chat Blanc whipped around to stare at her, his long cat ears swiveling to attention right along with him.

_Oh right. He had extra supernatural animal hearing. _

"I'm sorry," she amended quickly, "I didn't mean that. I'm sure the bakery girl is fine. She probably found someplace safe to hide when you got violent."

"She had better be safe," His scowl relaxed a bit, and his arms shuddered to support his weight.

_Hahaha, shit. He's not gonna like it when he sees me later with all these injuries. _

He tilted his head in scrutiny seeming to realize that Ladybug was suffering her own injuries. "Did I... did I hurt you, Buga—_Ladybug_?" he finished with a snarl.

She blinked at him as her heart flip-flopped in her chest. _H-hi, Chat Noir._ It took a second to shake off the surprise before he could take notice.

"Same time next week Chat Blanc?" she deflected. "At this rate I might have you purified by next year." Ladybug gave him a sarcastic flutter of her fingers, and muscled through the pain in her shoulder to yo-yo her way someplace secluded so she could drop the transformation.

000

"Tikki, help me with the bleeding. He's gonna find me any minute." Marinette stumbled against the steps at the back of a restaurant, before taking a seat.

She cast a quick glance around the alley to be sure they were alone before ushering the little Kwami out of her purse.

"I'm still eating, Marinette," Tikki said through a mouthful, holding the cookie with her tiny paws.

"Please," Marinette hissed and rolled up her sweater to get a look at the claw marks on her side.

"I don't have enough energy to outright heal all the wounds, but my saliva should act as a coagulant and assist your natural healing abilities."

"Perfect. Just don't get cookie crumbs in the wounds." Marinette shut her eyes, but felt the brush of Tikki's antennas when she hovered close to the wound on her ribs.

The Kwami's tongue was actually quite soothing, almost warm and cool at the same time. It didn't hurt nearly as much as she expected, but she tried not to think about the fact that Tikki was licking an open wound.

When the cuts on her ribs had been thoroughly coated in saliva, the little Kwami moved onto the wound on Marinette's leg. Where she repeated the same treatment once more.

"We should market your spit, Tikki. Sell it like some miracle healing ointment," Marinette joked, managing a weak chuckle.

Tikki paused her licking to reply, "Where do you think snake oil salesmen originated from?"

"Wait, that's a real thing?"

"Kwami saliva does some magical things."

00

As luck would have it, Tikki finished treating the wounds, and Marinette was able to limp back home without encountering Chat Blanc.

As soon as Tom and Sabine saw the state their daughter was in, they fussed over her, demanding to know what happened.

"Oh my goodness, Sweetheart! Are you alright?"

Marinette braced herself for the bear hug of concern that her Father scooped her up in, followed by her mother.

"You're covered in bruises!" declared Sabine, and she proceeded to push up Marinette's sleeves.

"I'm fine, Mama," she assured. "I got caught up in an akuma attack, but I'm alright."

"We saw it all on the news," said Tom. He finally released his daughter only for Sabine to wiggle in between them and fuss some more. "Chat Blanc really terrorized the city today."

"Well, I don't think it was that bad—"

"First the public indecency, then he attacked that driver, and all the destruction he caused fighting Ladybug."

"Well he didn't actually attack a driver—wait, when did he get in trouble for public indecency?"

"Why doesn't Ladybug help him?" Sabine asked, and the look she gave Marinette was pleading. It was almost as if she were directing it at Ladybug herself. "Chat used to be such a sweet boy; he couldn't possibly want to hurt people like this."

"It's complicated," Marinette replied a little too defensively. "He isn't just possessed by one akuma, and Ladybug is doing her best."

Tom ran his large hand over Marinette's bruised arm and released a hard sigh. "The heroes need to muzzle that boy before he kills someone. Instead they just let him run wild and terrorize the city."

"He might be an akuma right now but he isn't an animal, Papa," Marinette finally raised her voice enough to get their attention. "And he didn't attack that driver unprovoked. I almost got hit by a car and he saved me." She stepped away from her parents, guilt twisting in her stomach, and added, "So it's my fault he attacked the city today."

Her parents looked at her with equally bewildered expressions, clearly confused how it could be their daughter's fault that Chat went feral. But an explanation would reveal to them that she was a lot more involved in all of this than she wanted them to know. So instead, Marinette bolted for her bedroom.

She was not at all surprised to find a certain white cat perched on her loft and staring down at her with glowing magenta eyes.

"Marinette," it almost sounded like he breathed her name in relief.

"You shouldn't be here," she hissed. She quickly shut the trap door behind herself, not bothering to turn on the lights in hopes that he'd be less likely to notice her injuries. "If my parents catch you, they'll be chasing you down with torches and pitchforks."

"I'm not afraid of your parents," he sneered. "They're squishy and fragile."

"Chat, I swear to God if you hurt them—"

"Relax," he cut her off, "I wouldn't dare lay a claw on them. You have my word." Though his words sounded callous and aloof, he had the decency to look apologetic. His ears even drooped.

"Why are you here?"

Chat Blanc's floofy tail swished, and he refused eye contact with her.

Marinette crossed her arms over her chest and had to suppress a wince when her shoulder lanced with pain.

"It's stupid," Chat insisted and he moved from the edge of the loft towards the trap door leading to her balcony. She noticed he was limping.

"Chat."

He paused, floofy cat ears swiveling in her direction.

"Thank you." She sat down on her chaise lounge.

He turned back to her and tilted his head, but his expression was pensive.

"If it weren't for you, I would've been hit by that car." She patted the space on the lounge next to her in an inviting gesture.

Chat seemed to move unconsciously in response to the gesture, approaching her slowly.

"I was paying too much attention to you," she admitted. "I should have been looking both ways before crossing the street."

"You were very foolish," he agreed. His body seemed to glide down the steps with all the ease of a liquid. "You could have been killed."

"I don't think the car was driving that fast," she countered, giving him a lopsided smile. "But I might've gotten a broken bone, or a concussion, or something."

"No," Chat insisted, moving ever closer on all fours and clearly taking his time. "You would have died," he added in a matter-of-fact tone.

"You sound so distraught about that," she said sarcastically.

He stopped just as he reached her lap, his eyes darting up to her face and down again. "If you died there would be no one to bully me with kindness every day. Or bring me food, or tell me to brush my teeth. Besides who would try to purify me? Surely not Ladybug."

"You say that like you're not the one who is avoiding her_._" She lifted her hands from her lap to make room for him.

Chat scoffed, but finally draped himself over her knees.

Marinette couldn't stop herself from stroking his messy blonde hair, and he practically melted into her lap at the touch.

"Big bad akuma who made it on all the news reports today incapacitated by a bakery girl."

"Shut up and touch my ears."

She giggled at him but complied, stroking the fluff on the inside of his ear with her thumb.

The first couple of weeks with Chat Blanc his purrs had been rare, and it had been a chore finding moments when she could manage to work one out of him.

Now his purring came unbidden, flowing out of his throat like the rumble of an expensive car and just as indulgent. He nuzzled into her touch burying his nose against her sweater, and his hands caressed the exposed skin on her legs.

She had to suppress a hiss when his fingers brushed the cut on her shin, hoping beyond hope that he wouldn't notice and realize how beat up she was.

There was a kind of comfort she felt, petting him like this. To know that she could make him purr, make him melt, make him absolutely calm as a cuddly house cat. All the chaos and violence from earlier seemed to fall away and blur like distant white noise. She couldn't forget how terrifying he'd been, but she also couldn't damn him for it.

This wasn't his fault.

_This wasn't her fault_. Even though she'd shifted the blame onto herself when defending him to her parents.

This was Hawk Moth's fault, and those wretched little butterflies. Things would be so much easier if he'd just leave Chat alone. But as the weeks went on and Chat lost butterflies, his power waning, it was clear Hawk Moth was dead set on tormenting and antagonizing him even more.

"You know this chaise is more comfy than the floor," she prompted.

Chat cracked open one magenta eye and hummed, "are you asking me to cuddle you, Princess?"

"I didn't ask for anything." She scratched the spot behind his ear that made him shudder and lean into her hand. "...But I definitely implied it heavily."

Chat's purr rolled into an animalistic noise in the back of his throat. He moved off her lap, kicked off his boots and scooped her up in one fluid motion, climbing onto the chaise and settling down with her cradled in his lap.

"Happy now?"

Marinette wiggled in his embrace, trying to adjust so her shoulder wouldn't ache and her ribs would stop throbbing.

Chat sucked in a sharp breath, "I can put you down if you'd like, or are you trying to make things... hard?"

She stopped moving, his implication exciting her more than it should have.

_Don't think about that, don't think about that. Don't think about him getting hard... because of you..._

"Sorry," she amended. "My side—"

Tikki suddenly zipped into view over Chat's shoulder and raised a paw to her mouth.

"—it was a cramp. I'm good now." Marinette laid her head against his chest. "This is... _nice._"

It took a moment before Chat relaxed a bit. "It's... ok," he grumbled. She felt him lean in and heard his slight inhale, a moment of hesitation before he pushed his nose against her hair.

"Is this a bad time to ask why you were on the news for public indecency?"

Chat made a choking noise and tightened his grip.

"I may have," he cleared his throat, "taken a piss on Gabriel Agreste's car."

"While he was in it?"

"_Yeeess... _and his assistant, and definitely his driver."

Marinette didn't know whether to laugh at the absurdity or be appalled. "Can I ask why?"

"Because I hate him," Chat growled out. "And he's an asshole to his son."

"Ok. Fair enough." Marinette snuggled farther into his embrace and let out a pleased sigh.

She chose not to think about what was going to happen when Chat finally noticed all her cuts and bruises. Right now was sweet, and she wanted it to stay that way.

Chat continued to hold her in comfortable silence, the tip of his tail brushing against her periodically in what she recognized as an affectionate gesture. It was soothing, and the fur tickled her skin in a pleasant way.

It wasn't until she started nodding off that the rumblings of a purr began in his chest. She was just coherent enough realize he had stopped nuzzling and was grooming the hair on the top of her head.

"This is..." he murmured like he did not expect her to hear him and his purr grew in strength, "mine—f-fine. _Fine_."

* * *

**This oneshot was inspired by the art I commissioned Zirio to draw of Chat Blanc with Marinette. If you'd like to see the art, you can find it reblogged on my Tumblr under the "Floofy eared Chat Blanc" tag. Or you can shoot me a message and I'll happily send you a link to it.**


	6. Cornered

**This oneshot takes place after Take My Hand, but before Velvet Soft.**

* * *

"What did you want to eat for lunch today, Marinette?"

"Besides all the Doritos you keep in your pockets?" Marinette shot the man next to her a teasing smile.

"Emergency snacks," Luka corrected. "And usually it's Funyuns." As if to prove his point, he pulled a yellow onion-shaped snack from his vest pocket, and popped it into his mouth.

"Do you just put those straight into your pockets, or is there a bag in there?" She craned her neck to get a look, reaching out to pull open his pocket, but he weaved away before she could get a good look.

Luka raised his brows at her and chided, "Don't you know it's rude to look in a man's pockets? There could be a snake in there or something." He spoke the last part with a devilish smirk tugging the corner of his mouth,

"Gross!" Marinette recoiled, pulling her hands back. "It's not like I was looking in your pants."

He simply laughed as he shoved another Funyun into his mouth.

"Your sister was telling me about a lovely place a few blocks from here," she chirped, steering the subject of conversation back to its original topic. "They have those little cappuccinos with the art on the top and Nathaniel works as a part-time barista there. He can makes cappuccinos with any anime character you want."

Luka let out a low chuckle and asked, "Do you know if he's working today?"

"Nope," she replied, and bumped his shoulder with her own. "I guess we'll find out when we get there."

"Heh, sounds cool."

Something large and white over Luka's shoulder leaped from one roof to another across the street.

"I can't wait to see your new designs for Kitty Section. Rose wouldn't quit texting me last night asking if I'd seen them yet."

The mass of white darted along the edge of the roof, a thin whip-like tail lashing back and forth before it crouched down and out of sight.

"Hey Luka," Marinette interjected. "Why don't you go on ahead and get us a seat. I need to uh..." Marinette cast her eyes to the shops around them and found one that was completely overflowing with the most girly, frilly and pink merchandise she'd ever seen. "—stop in this shop and get something for Rose."

Luka snorted and covered his mouth with his hand. "I could go in with you. I'm secure enough in my own masculinity to shop around a disgustingly pink store."

"No!" she choked loud enough to make him flinch. "I mean, she wanted something private, that only this store carries. And I'll be super embarrassed if you go in a buy them with me."

Luka spared the store a glance, "What do they have, a section in the back for florescent pink floral scented vibrators?" It was clearly a joke when he cracked a smile at her, and it was one of those sweet handsome smiles that would have had her heart stuttering like mad a few years back.

"No, but it's just as bad," she assured, placing a hand on his back. "So go on ahead and I'll catch up with you." She gave him a gentle shove in the direction of the café they decided on.

"Alright, alright," he relented, "just don't stand me up, okay?"

"Pfffff! Like I would do that to you?"

He quirked a brow at her. "You used to do it all the time when you were still in Lycée."

"I've gotten waaaay better about that," Marinette defended, jabbing a finger at him even as she approached the shop door.

"Mmhmm~" Luka just smirked at her, and started for the café.

She darted into the store, pretending to browse the offensively pink shop—seriously she loved the color pink but this was a little excessive, it was like someone puréed a Barbie—for about three minutes until she was sure Luka was gone. Taking a peek out the entrance she confirmed his mop of blue and black hair was out of sight.

_Coast is clear, time to get to the bottom of this. _She surveyed the nearby roofs, but was unable to spot anything suspicious.

Sucking in a breath, Marinette casually stepped out of the shop and made a beeline for the closest secluded alley she could find. She ducked into the shadowed narrow passage, and wasn't more than ten paces in before a large white form dropped into the alley behind her, effectively cutting off her escape.

Marinette spun around to face him, already leveling him with a hard look.

"Hi Chat."

"Hello, mouse." His mouth was curled into sneer.

"May I ask why you're following me?"

Chat Blanc moved toward her backing her against the brick wall of a building. "I was bored," he remarked in an offhand way. Like it wasn't a big deal that he'd been tailing them. "Who's the delinquent you're with today?"

She snorted at that. "That's rich coming from you. Pot, I'll have to introduce you to Kettle sometime."

Chat Blanc narrowed his eyes at her, "I'm not black."

"For the love of God!" She threw her hands up and leaned back against the wall. "It's a phrase Chat, it's not literal. You had a better sense of humor when you were black."

Chat moved to trap her against the wall with his hand, his large frame towering over her, but she didn't so much as flinch. Instead she held his gaze with a flare of defiance in her eyes. "Do you miss the old me?" he rumbled, proceeding to grin and show her a mouthful of fangs.

"You weren't a stalker back then," she replied a little too dryly.

Chat wiggled his nose, and his ears followed suit, swishing bits of his hair in the process. "I was simply curious about your new company, since you didn't stop by my place to annoy me to death today."

"Awwww, you poor thing." Marinette brought her hand up to flick the bell in the middle of his chest. "You were missing me."

Chat scoffed wrinkling his nose. "Hardly. Just wondering why you aren't spending more time with that guy, instead of bothering me all the time. Goth boy looks into you, and I'd finally get you out of my hair."

"His name is Luka," she corrected, wondering why it even mattered that he used his name. "And he's my friend."

"Is that Luka?" Chat pondered aloud. He got a faraway look like his mind was wandering into memories that had been locked away. He shook himself and fixed his attention back on Marinette, "You two are _just_ friends?"

"Just friends."

"Right."

Marinette rolled her eyes.

"So there's no one who tickles your fancy?" He rumbled, and she watched his tail whip around in what was clearly an agitated gesture. He wasn't as relaxed and unconcerned as he tried to play it off. "You'd rather spend all your time with me?"

"Actually," she began, and noticed the way his ears twitched, "If you're that curious I had a raging crush on Adrien Agreste for the longest time."

Chat snorted and his ears relaxed, "Won't you be disappointed."

She furrowed her brow at him, attempting to decipher if that was meant to be an insult or not. "And why's that?"

Chat's ears curled back, and his tail brushed her leg as he wrapped it over his shins in a defensive gesture. "It's not important. You'll figure it out on your own," he sneered, his expression turning cruel again. "Or maybe you won't."

"If you're going to waste my time, I'll just get back to my _date_ with Luka."

The nasty air of superiority fell from Chat's face, and his mouth twisted into a frown, followed by his nose wrinkling. But it only lasted half a second before his features smoothed into cold grumpy indifference.

"Then go," he spat, "get back to your little boyfriend before he starts to wonder where you've wandered off to." Contrary to his words, Chat brought his other arm up to trap her in. He cocked his head and leaned in, practically growling the next words. "He might get the wrong idea if he catches you sneaking off to spend time with _me_."

She could feel his breath on her chin, and smell the foul aroma of cheese that laced it. He was getting far too close for comfort.

"Chat," she warned.

He didn't back off.

"Goth guy is better for you than Adrien."

"He's _just a friend._"

He was so close she could feel him snicker. "Yeah, I bet you've heard that a lot before."

If she hadn't been back against a wall, she would have recoiled like he slapped her. _Oh this was just overstepping _ALL _kinds of boundaries. _

Marinette snatched Chat's ear and pinched it as hard as she could.

"Raaaaahhhhhhh!" Chat recoiled with a hiss, spitting and clutching his abused cat ear.

It was just enough of an opening for Marinette to slip away towards the entrance of the alley, doubtful that he would follow her out onto the main street.

"I know you're an akuma, and you can't help being mean," she started, her hands clenching into fists at her sides, "but you're being an ass, Chat."

Chat simply watched her with wide glowing eyes from the shadows of the alley, still nursing his ear.

"Word of advice," she stepped out into the sunlit street, "don't push away the people who care about you." With that she stalked off towards the café where Luka was waiting for her, leaving Chat Blanc by himself to wallow in his loneliness.

00

Marinette caught up to Luka inside the café. He was standing in front of Nathaniel who was clutching an empty tray. Both of them were dripping coffee onto a floor littered with broken cups and a scattering of Doritos and Funyuns.

"What happened to you guys?" she implored, unsure whether to bust out laughing or cry.

Both men gave her a deer-in-the-headlights stare.

"I spilled coffee everywhere," explained Luka, unhelpfully.

"I—uh I wasn't watching where I was going," said Nathaniel in a quiet voice. He pushed aside a lock of coffee-drenched hair from his face, then patted his waist for a towel only to discover it too was soaked with coffee. "I'm, so—I'm so sorry." He tried to step back and his foot crushed a Funyun, starling the already nervous barista.

"I can clean this up," Luka stated.

"No-no, I'll clean it up," Nathaniel insisted. "It's my job."

Marinette cut in before both men continued awkwardly apologizing for eternity. "I'll clean it up, while the both of you go dry off, and ice those coffee burns." She reached behind the counter and snagged a broom, waving it at the hesitating men to prompt them to start for the break room.

Reluctantly both men disappeared to the back and Marinette began sweeping up the mess. She cast her eyes around the vacant café and felt a sense of relief.

"Aren't we lucky no one else was here."

Tikki poked her head up from Marinette's purse to survey the damage.

"Like a Ladybug," she winked up at her host.

0000

Luka kicked a loose piece of stone into the Seine and watched the way it disturbed the dark water below.

It was the middle of the night, and in the distance his Mother was making a fuss on their houseboat, fighting with a staticky speaker system. Juleka had moved out to live with Rose almost a year ago, and he'd stuck around to take care of his batty Mother who progressively got a bit crazier as her memory continued to go_. _

_It was fine._

He could handle it. He was alone most days, aside from his Mom, but that was ok.

It had been nice spending the day with Marinette. Refreshing. Even if the afternoon had turned into a bit of a mess.

Luka picked at one of the aloe-soaked bandages on his arm. A feeling of guilt squirmed in his gut, and he promised to go back to the café tomorrow to apologize to Nath properly, maybe even leave him a nice tip.

Despite it all, everyone had parted ways in a good mood.

Something white moved in the reflection on the water, and he whirled around coming face to face with Chat Blanc.

Ears flattened, shoulders hunched, and tail arced, the akuma bared a mouthful of teeth at him.

"What do you want?" Luka demanded.

"I want you to treat her nicely," he growled out.

"Who?" Luka braced a hand against the railing, while the other hand slipped into his pocket to feel cold scales curl nervously around his fingers. "Marinette?"

Chat moved to pace back and forth in front of him in an almost circling motion. "She is... special."

"You care about her?"

Chat drew up close to him and narrowed magenta eyes, "Yes..." His tail lashed back and forth, glowing eyes never leaving the other man. "And if you ever kiss her I'll dump you head first into the Seine."

Luka swallowed.

"But she can kiss you," he clarified. "Because she is her own person and can kiss whomever she likes."

"Noted," he responded with a stiff nod.

"Good," Chat sniffed, then paused, then took another sniff. "You stink like a snake."

"Re-really?" Luka rasped out. "_Weird_."

A low sound came from Chat Blanc's throat, and he backed off, turning to hop onto the back of a wooden bench. "That's all I wanted to say," he paused, then added, "Go take a shower, that smell is foul."

Once Chat was bounding away, up onto the roofs and out of sight, Luka slouched back against the railing and breathed a ragged sigh. "Says the guy whose breath stinks of rotten cheese?"

Something wiggled in his pocket, and suddenly Luka could smell the awful musky smell emanating from his person.

"What the heck was that, Sass?!"

A zig-zag of aqua green slithered out of his pocket to hover sheepishly before his chosen.

"I'm sorry. He was making me nervous."

Luka clamped the hand not covered in snake musk over his nose, and started back for home. "God, that stinks, and you got it all over the inside of my pocket."

"I know," the snake Kwami agreed with shame in his tone. "I'll help you clean it out."


	7. Bleached White part 3

**Part three of Bleached White. This takes place directly after the first two chapters.**

* * *

A flash of green light heralded a force field, and Chat hit the surface with a painful smack. The crackle of green energy repelled him, and Marinette watched him land in the street just outside the alley.

All his white fur from head to tail was bristling, his claws digging gouges into the concrete. The rumbling growl coming from his chest could have been mistaken for a roll of thunder.

"Looks like I found you just in time." Carapace held out his hand to her.

Her own hand was shaking when she accepted his assistance, letting him haul her back onto her feet.

"Your parents called Alya when you went missing tonight, and we investigated the alley behind your house. Luckily Rena was able to sniff out _his_ smell," Carapace jabbed a thumb in the direction of Chat. "We had a feeling we might find you with him," he explained while keeping a close eye on the terrifying akuma pacing the mouth of the alley on all fours. "We haven't been able to locate his hideout like you asked, but we've collected lots of reported sightings in this area and figured it was a good place to start looking for you."

"Good call." Marinette attempted and failed to brush off the wet dirt from her clothes, only managing to smear mud around. "I think I can tell you where his hideout is."

Carapace nodded, and it was left unsaid that they would discuss how she came about that information later.

Seeming to grow impatient, Chat launched himself at the force-field. His claws gouged into the green energy, causing sparks of magic to pop, then sank his fangs in and began uselessly biting.

"You got a plan, so we can purify him?" he asked, still watching the snarling akuma. Chat continued to mouth the force-field. He was completely unconcerned with the magic attempting to repel him and sparking angrily with every contact of tooth and claw.

"I don't think we can right now. I've already purified one butterfly that came out of him and he's still like this. Tikki thinks he must have been eating all of Hawk Moth's butterflies for the past month."

"That would explain a lot."

"Hey bubble-buddies!" a familiar new voice broke in. "Are you two going to sit there and twiddle your thumbs?"

Carapace and Marinette jerked their attention up to see the fox heroine peering down at them from over the edge of a building.

"We were kinda cozy down here," Carapace sassed back, "thought we might spend the night."

Chat ceased chewing on the force field to hiss up at Rena Rouge.

"Hey there, pretty kitty," she winked, and fluttered her fingers. "Digging your new look. It screams 'I'm such a bad boy,' with those over-sized lapels."

Another hiss, this one even more angry than the previous, and Chat dug his claws deeper into the force field causing the magic to flicker and pop violently.

"Can you _not_ taunt him while he's trying to kill us?" Carapace called up to her.

"I could try," Rena mused, "but it'll be _really_ hard."

The barrier suddenly made a loud cracking noise, drawing the attention of Marinette and the two heroes.

Bubbling black and purple energy oozed out of the palms of Chat's hands. Tendrils of black crawled along the surface of the field. There were hundreds of them, looking like tiny black hands on the ends of long thin boneless arms. Each finger tip of the tiny demonic-like hands seemed to have their own little mouths full of teeth, the teeth no larger than the tip of a sewing needle.

The tendrils slithered and pulled themselves further along the surface, greedily eating away at Carapace's Miraculous magic. The bubbling hands even crawled up Chat's own arms, digging into his suit like he was a corpse being infested with worms.

"Is th-that cataclysm?" Carapace choked, stepping to put himself between Marinette and the writhing black mass. "He didn't even say it! How can he use it if he didn't even call for it?"

"That force field isn't going to hold out for much longer," Marinette pointed out. "As soon as it gives, can you get me some place out of his eye-line?"

"Maybe?" he squeaked, watching a crack ripple through the flickering green magic. "Rena, we could really use a hand here! Think you could create a diversion for us so Marinette can do her thing?"

"Sh-_sure~_" Rena called down, but she sounded sick to her stomach and a little horrified with the scene below.

They watched her raise the flute to her mouth, her hands trembling, but readying to cast her illusion magic the moment the force field gave way.

Another crack, and everyone's breath caught. Carapace readied himself, wrapping his arm around Marinette's waist.

Chat's sinister black magic continued to voraciously eat away at the barrier, and his eyes had completely lost their pupils, becoming nothing more than empty pits of burning magenta.

One last crack sounded off, like a pane of glass finally giving out, and the whole side of the forcefield shattered like the tempered windshield of a car. Popping green magic rained down on Carapace and Marinette, and Chat fell to the ground on all fours, a terrifying wild cat about to go for the kill. The bubbling black magic that had been spilling from his hands began retreating back into his palms.

"Now!" The turtle hero screamed. He pushed off the ground with Marinette clinging to him, and plunged further into the alley.

"Mirage!" Rena called out, and her flute whistled it's high pitched notes.

Chat pounced, mouth ripping open, and claws bared.

But the two disappeared into a burst of dazzling orange magic.

Instead of making contact with Carapace and Marinette, Chat crashed painfully into the concrete snarling and swiping at a sudden onslaught of blues, and pinks, and cream colored shapes.

When he finally righted himself, the turtle hero was gone, and he was lost in a sea of more than a thousand scattering Marinettes.


	8. Hold me Closer Part 1

**This one takes place after Bleached White parts 1, 2, and 3, and after Cornered, Take My Hand, and Bully me with Kindness. But it takes place before Velvet Soft, Kitty Cuddles, and Kitty Kisses.**

* * *

"Avalanchemon!" was the last thing Ladybug heard before she—and subsequently half of Paris—was buried under a mountain of snow.

She expected the cascade of snow to hit harder, to feel more crushing, feel _colder, and _even braced herself for it. But... something hard and warm had barreled into her chest at the last second, painfully knocking the wind from her lungs and sending them tumbling through the door of a nearby house. A wall of snow followed them inside, spilling harmlessly over their legs, but woefully sealing their exit.

"I take it that akuma was a digimon fan..." grumbled a very familiar voice. "I bet the new reboot really pissed him off."

Ladybug coughed out a mouthful of snow, and managed to chortle, "He's certainly raising _hail_."

Her partner's sweet timbre returned a chuckle next to her ear and added, "You'd think all this snow would help him _chill_ out." It was enough to send shivers down her spine that had nothing to do with blanket of snow covering them both.

For a moment it felt like home, like old times and security. It wasn't until she opened her eyes to blink up at him that the sleek black leather and warm chartreuse of her memory melted and she was left staring up at pale ivory and sinister magenta.

An awkward silence settled between them, like someone driving a wedge between hearts that had, for the briefest moment, locked fingers. His pupils narrowed into nothing more than slits, as realization seemed to dawn on him. That once soft expression hardening until it was just as cold as the snow around them.

Chat pushed himself off of her, dislodging some of the ice, and shook himself free from the rest of it. Her breath held when he crawled away from her, slinking low. The temptation to laugh scraped the back of her throat because those Floofy ears of his were stained pink on the tips, and his usually luxurious tail fur was caked with clumps of snow.

"We can't get out," he stated flatly.

"What?" Ladybug kicked free of the snow mound and turned towards him, brushing it off her suit.

Chat shoved at a window, but it wouldn't budge against the wall of white outside. She watched him stalk across the room to the other side, and attempt the other windows, all yielding the same results.

"We should try a higher floor," she suggested, "maybe something up there will open?"

Chat Blanc started for the stairwell before she even finished the sentence, all too eager to find some sort of escape. No doubt, dreading the thought of being confined so near the spotted heroine; the only person capable of taking away his akumas. Ladybug followed after him, her heart holding out hope that they weren't trapped inside this building while a snow akuma plunged France into an early ice age.

"No!" Chat bellowed, his voice echoing down the stairwell. "No no no no!"

Ladybug arrived on the top floor only to witness Blanc acting like a caged animal; he scratched against blocked windows, pushing at panes that hardly budged. His claws gouged paint chips from the frames and splintered wood. In one room he ripped the widow from its frame, and began digging wildly into the snow. His hands shoveling desperately at the wall of packed ice until his breaths came out as ragged wheezing.

And still he never reached the top.

About five feet up his tunnel of desperation, the snow collapsed.

If she had not been there to dig him out he might've been stuck, might've frozen to death. That close shave seemed to finally bring the realization of their predicament down upon Chat Blanc.

_They were trapped in here, together._

Him and Ladybug, snowed in together, until one of the other heroes defeated the akuma and dug them out. It was Blanc's worst nightmare made a reality, while on the other hand it was Noir's dream come true.

Chat felt all sorts of conflicted.

Ladybug on the other hand was weighing her options. There were at least five other heroes, and Carapace was more than capable of bestowing a new miraculous if the situation called for it, being the new Guardian of the Miracle box. Statistically someone had to be able to fight this akuma.

She gave her lucky charm a shot, but only managed to conjure up a blanket. It seemed to be a sign that even their miraculous thought they should just wait this one out.

"This is _your _fault," Chat snarled, curling his lip at her.

"Excuse me!?" Ladybug retaliated, planting a hand on her hip. "I didn't cause that akuma!"

"You almost got yourself trapped under that avalanche. If I didn't have to save you we wouldn't even be stuck in here now!"

"You _never_ had to save me! That was a decision you made all your own, Chat."

He opened his mouth to object, but shut it again, pressing his lips in a tight line.

To her absolute surprise, Chat Blanc offered her privacy while she slipped away to the seclusion of a closet to feed her Kwami and recharge her powers. He muttered something about having no interest in her miraculous, and that he wasn't like other akumas. Despite his earlier unfounded accusations Marinette couldn't help but feel a sting of fondness for his more gentlemanly side.

It was Noir. Chat Noir would never take her miraculous. Just like it was probably Noir that tackled her, to protect her from the avalanche. Before he'd turned white she'd trusted him implicitly. It seemed that trust was not misplaced, because even as an akuma he was trying to protect her.

"What did you see when you conjured the Lucky Charm?" asked Tikki between nibbles of a macaron.

"The uhhh... the magic highlighted... Chat." Marientte played with one of her pigtails, and tried to will the blush out of her cheeks.

"Nothing else?" the kwami pressed, "What part of Chat was highlighted?"

"All p-parts of Chat," she stuttered out, "and nothing else... just Chat. I didn't tell him that though," she quickly amended. "He thinks the Lucky Charm didn't work."

"Seems to me the Lucky Charm wants you to stay warm... together?" Tikki winked and took another mouthful of cookie.

"Oh god... I can't be trapped in here with him!" Marinette hissed in protest. "He kissed me last week!"

"Well technically he kissed Marinette, and you're trapped with him as Ladybug. Besides he's been trying to pretend like it never happened anyway. Or at the very least that it didn't mean anything. As long as you suit up before he smells you, there shouldn't be a problem."

Tikki had a point. Luckily the Miraculous's magic rendered Ladybug's scent unrecognizable. Unique only to the hero when transformed, and masking all her civilian smells.

"And didn't you say you liked that kiss?" added the Kwami with a sly smile. "Seems to me like this would be the perfect opportunity for it to happen again. Chat stills likes Ladybug after all~"

"Tikki no! Spots on!"

Ladybug found Chat Blanc sulking near his collapsed tunnel, flexing his claws like he was contemplating a cataclysm.

"Don't you dare, you could bring this whole house down on us, or worse."

Chat flicked an ear in her direction and snorted. But he retracted his hand anyway, folding it over his knees. The clumps of snow on his tail had melted off now, and when he whipped said tail indignantly it made a soggy slapping noise against the wood floor.

Ladybug found herself getting lost in thought, watching the way his suit molded over his shoulders like a second skin. She noted the contours of his shoulder blades, and the muscles in the back of his neck, the way they subtly flexed every time he shifted, made even more apparent by the sheen of water coating the suit material.

"I've sent a message to all the other heroes, letting them know of our predicament," she informed him, peeling her eyes from his back and attempting to find some other place to stick her gaze. "So long as I can keep my transformation up, they'll be able to track our location."

He flicked his tail again as some sort of acknowledgement, and it made the sad wet-mop noise once more.

"Did you want to help me find some towels so we can dry off?" The suggestion was more for his benefit than hers, as her detransformation and retransformation had resulted in a new dry Ladybug suit.

"No."

Despite the sketchy electricity that continued to hold for now, the temperature in the building continued to plunge. Chat was sopping wet, and if she watched close enough she could see him shiver. In spite of his declination, she had a feeling he was going to want those towels sooner or later.

_He's being stubborn because he doesn't want to be trapped with Ladybug. The one person who could potentially steal all his akumas away and purify him. _

"Fine, I'll get them myself."

He didn't so much as react when she stalked away.

She wasn't sure whose house this was, but it was fortunate that no one was home. Her Miraculous cure would put things back to normal before anyone realized Ladybug and Chat Blanc had raided their home.

_And curled up in their bed._

That was another conundrum. There were two bedrooms in this house, but only one had a bed. She supposed someone could take the couch—should it come to that—but that would be in the same room that the avalanche had chased them in. And the floor in there was looking to be a bit flooded at the moment.

The other bedroom had been an office of sorts, and Chat had collapsed his tunnel in there.

Really the only rooms that weren't a mess were the kitchen, laundry room, and main bedroom.

She briefly contemplated making Chat sleep on the dryer like the cat he was.

Ladybug made quick work changing the sheets on the bed with fresh linens, collecting clean comforters, and raiding the towels. She was on her way back with a stack of towels when she peeked in on Chat.

The office-like room was vacant, he wasn't where she'd left him. But rather she found him curled up on the bed in the bedroom. Drooping ears, curled back in contempt, with eyes closed, and soggy tail wrapped around his soggy leather clad body.

"Get off that bed!"

"No." Chat nestled deeper into the nest of blankets he had made.

"You're getting the bed all wet!"

"Guess it's all mine then." Like a spiteful man child, Chat Blanc proceeded to rub his hair all over the blankets.

*_Crack* _

Ladybug stalked to the end of the bed, and snapped the towel tight between her fists. It was enough to make the akuma still, eyes narrowing. She noted the way his tail arced just slightly and the fur bristled.

"If you don't get out of that bed and dry off, I will do it for you."

"Such big talk from the weaker Miraculous holder," he sneered up at her. "But, you're welcome to try, _Bug_." The inflection he put in that nickname dripped with challenge.

_Don't play this game with me, Blanc._

Ladybug lunged for him, but Chat was prepared and met her in a grapple, sending the two tumbling back, rolling around atop the blankets. He made a snatch for the towel, and she twisted it from his reach, taking swipes to mop the moisture from his suit and hair.

Amidst the power struggle, she purposefully knocked her yo-yo loose, and let it fall from her hip to the mattress, the twine anchored to her left hand. Chat didn't seem to notice, or if he did, he wasn't concerned with her yo-yo. This gave her the chance to kick it beneath him, before using her other foot to kick it once more, looping it around one of his legs.

For next five minutes they continued to wrestle, and it was clear Chat had the advantage. His superior strength never giving her an inch, all the while she began to fatigue, her own muscles trembling to match him and keep from getting pinned, or thrown off. It was her own flexibility that saved her, managing to slip his holds and wiggle out of his grasp, keeping her yo-yo moving with precise kicks, taps, and flicks. Even taking note that he was being incredibly careful with his claws.

She wasn't oblivious. All it would have taken were those cruel fish hooks to dig in, and he would have had her. His hellish claws able to pierce her suit, and cause all kinds of damage to her otherwise impenetrable Ladybug exoskeleton. And yet, through their entire brawl, he kept those claws retracted, relying solely on his own strength and agility to keep her at bay.

_This was play. _Despite his insistence that Ladybug was his enemy and his continued frosty attitude towards her, right here and now, she recognized that he was having fun. Their entire physical engagement nothing more than a game to him.

And something about that realization sparked hope, and the cozy embers of warmth in her chest. Every restrained swipe and every half hearted hold, only stoking her endearment, and although she fought with everything she had, exhausting herself to keep up with him, it felt more cathartic than perilous.

One of her trembling arms gave out, and Ladybug collapsed to her side, losing a grapple with the white cat.

Chat twisted and pounced, pushing her into the bed, face first, finally managing to pin her to the mattress. Futilely Ladybug slammed her foot into the mattress, seemingly one last attempt squirm free, but Chat kept firm his hold, failing to notice that the impact of her foot bounced her yo-yo one last time, where it landed just inches from her hand.

His palm applied pressure on her shoulder, making her bones creak, and he leaned down to growl next to her ear.

"I win."

_Yeah, you go ahead and relish that victory, Kitty._

She responded by tugging on her yo-yo sharply, causing the weapon to retract its twine. The string suddenly drawing tight, as all the looping and weaving she'd done during their scuffle came to a head.

"Whaaaaaaahhh!" Chat made an inhuman screech as twine tightened around him and he came down, crashing into her back, writhing like an animal. The struggling causing her yo-yo to pull tighter.

She released a breathe of triumph and rolled over to face her prey.

"I win," she jeered back, a devilish smirk etching her face. Snatching up the towel, Ladybug shoved it into his stricken face, mopping his wet hair while she relished his immobile state.

Chat had no words, just made angry huffing sounds through his nose.

Slowly and methodically, Ladybug ran the towel over him. Though most of the water had been rubbed off onto the bed, she wanted to relish this and take her time drying him off. One floofy ear, then the next. She paused when her hands brushed his earrings. Maybe he noticed her open admiration, the way she ran her thumb over the simple gold hoops.

When she snuck a glance at his face, his gaze was turned pointedly away, frowning so hard his fangs dug into his bottom lip.

This was a familiar scene. Outside the mask, Chat often treated Marinette with this sort of indifference. Never wanting to make eye contact even whilst he pushed his head into her lap, demanding to be petted.

The temptation to stroke his ears was too much, and Ladybug chanced it.

But Chat Blanc must've had a lock down on his vulnerable side, because the only noise she got out of him was an annoyed growl. A stark contrast to the ease of which he would purr under Marinette's fingers.

_You would have enjoyed this if I wasn't in the mask._

She cast a look at the trussed up and quite helpless cat, and proceeded to run the towel over him. Starting with his shoulders and working her way down his chest, then over his stomach, stopping just above his belts.

Chat made another huff, testing the binding, before letting his muscles go lax again.

"Roll, over so I can get your back and tail."

A feral hiss spilled from his throat, and Chat barred his fangs at her.

"Don't be a pill. I wouldn't have had to tie you up, had you simply let me dry you off to begin with."

Too petulant to use his words, he opted to snap at her when she attempted to touch him again. Teeth narrowing missing her wrist. Rather than be intimidated, she sharply yanked on his shoulder, forcing him onto his belly.

And that's when she discovered the source of his foul temper.

"Oh, shit."

Somehow, amid all their wrestling and her careful weaving of the yo-yo twine, she'd managed to catch his tail in it all. But Instead of pinned securely against his leg, it was caught between several loops, and kinked at an odd angle; no doubt incredibly painful for him.

"I am _so_ sorry."

Ladybug reached to free his abused tail, but the moment she touched the fur he loosed a viscous snarl and fought the bindings. I was enough to make her withdrawal.

"Do you want me to help you or not?" she snapped, pressing her hands against her thighs and leveling him with a hard look.

"You did this to me," he spat, still barring teeth.

"You didn't leave me with much choice," she countered, and the lights in the apartment flickered as if responding to her ire. "And I seem to recall you welcoming me to try. That's a challenge if I ever heard one."

Chat looked like he was about to respond when the lights flickered again, then went out completely, plunging the room into darkness.

_Oh sweet mother of mercy... _Not only was she trapped with Chat, but now she couldn't see anything.

_Not that Chat will be overly affected by it, _she lamented to herself. _Kitty night vision and all that noise. _

The excessive snow had finally managed to knock out the power in their building, and no doubt the rest of the surrounding neighborhood. Which meant no heat, and no lights. And the absence of the latter was going to make untying Chat a real chore.

"So about that tail..." Ladybug reached a hand out to his side, and placed it on his ribs.

"You know," he rasped, sounding much less combative than before, "staying tied up until the turtle and foxy dig us out doesn't sound so bad."

"—I think I can get it free." Feeling confident she knew where to touch, she moved her hands farther down, reaching out for where she thought the start of his tail might be.

"I'd rather you noAaaaa—," Chat broke off in a strangled noise.

"That's—" Ladybug stilled her hand, and had to will herself not to squeeze. "Oh. That's uh, nice—I mean—did I hurt you?"

"This is har_ass_ment."

She bit down on her lip to keep from snickering. Reminding herself to focus, she slid her hand over the one cheek until she found the top of his tail. "You can sue me later," she replied, surprised at the amount of control she had over her voice.

"I will," he groused, "I can file sexual assault. You'll be receiving a strongly worded letter from my—aiiiiittt!" Chat suddenly bucked beneath her hands, and she felt all his muscles go tight, even the ones in his glutes. "You do NOT need to put your fingers there!"

"Would you calm down?" she rebuked. "I'm not trying to finger you, I needed to get my hand under your tail."

"You need to get your hands _OFF _my tail."

Ladybug heaved a sigh through her nose and ignored him, following the direction of the fur until she came across the first loop of twine. Taking a moment to feel it out, she attempted to pull his tail through it.

"Stop! P-please stop!"

Immediately her hands stilled.

"Did I hurt you?"

Chat let out a shuddering breath, "...yes."

She sucked in her own breath, and tried to calm her nerves. "Ok. Let me find my yo-yo. It'll probably be safer if I untangle all of you, than trying to manipulate your tail from the twine.

There was a moment of two of silence as she patted around the mattress for the mechanism of the yo-yo, her hands bumping into him on occasion.

When Chat Blanc finally did speak again it was to ask, "I take it this means you're going to be feeling up the rest of me."

Her hands located the yo-yo next to his chest, and followed the twine along his defined shoulder blades before it disappeared below his rib cage.

"Why, Chat," she teased, "before you were akumatized you would have loved that."

His response was a snort that she could have sworn sounded amused, before arching his body so she could reach below his chest. "Just, tell me how I need to move, my La—uh... _Bug_."


	9. Hold me Closer part 2

**A direct continuation of "Hold me Closer Mr. Catman."**

* * *

"I swear to god, if you do not stop biting me I _will_ leave you like this."

In the darkness Chat Blanc moved again, contours shifting beneath her touch, but there was a carefulness, an unease in his movements. A muffled hiss escaped as he bared his stomach to her once more, and she was reminded that he was probably sitting on his kinked tail again.

"I can't help it, it's driving me insane." The gnash of his teeth could be heard even while he spoke. "There are fingers and twine, and fingers disappearing under or running over blankets, and string everywhere and I just... _have_... to."

Ladybug traced the line from the yo-yo over his belts and found it caught on one of the buckles. "Have a little self-control. My suit isn't tooth proof, _unfortunately_." She fingered the buckle, searching, mentally reminding her hands not to linger anywhere. "I found the place where the cord is snagged, just be warned, I'll have to tug on your belt a little."

"Kinky."

A blush threatened. "Oh shut up, don't make this any harder than it already is."

"Hah," he gave half a laugh, "with the way you're fondling me, trust me, it doesn't get any more—Aiiitttt!"

Ladybug yanked roughly on the twine, making him interrupt himself with a tortured yelp. "Ass," she shot, hoping to distract from the burning heat that now singed her cheeks. She couldn't take it. He went from being a stubborn ass to being a depraved one in a matter of seconds.

And apparently, he couldn't take a hint.

"Now you're thinking about my ass, Bug? Can't say I blame you. You got quite the handful earlier." The throaty purr was doing nothing to ease the fire in her nerves.

She managed to work the twine over his belt buckle and create some slack. "I was not referring to your ass," she retorted.

_Not that he didn't have a fine ass,_ Ladybug begrudgingly admitted. It had been firm when he'd clenched his muscles, but soft and pliant when she'd first laid her hands on kinda wanted to grope his ass again, and wondered how far she could get as Marinette. He seemed to let her get much closer to him outside of the suit. _No! Bad Marinette. You are not planning to feel up your akumatized partner. _

"How in the world did you manage to get _this_ tangled?!" she snapped in frustration. "Really!"

Another loop of the yo-yo twine came loose and they managed to set one of his hands free, only for him to take a swipe at her with those deadly claws when she tried to reel in the excess.

They barely missed making direct contact, but she still felt them graze her suit, tearing the material, and nicking her skin.

"You!" Ladybug struck his hand hard enough to make her own fingers sting.

He made a startled "grmf" and withdrew, curling said hand into his chest.

"You're a bad cat!"

She wasn't able to see his expression from the dark but had the suspicion he wasn't sporting a look of remorse the way a dog would. She imagined he was looking very indignant at the moment.

"Yes. I _am_ an akuma," he reminded her haughtily, voice dipping into a rough timbre.

_I don't need reminding. _Ladybug shuddered, thinking about how often she told herself he was an akuma. Chastising every time his touch lingered or whenever he leaned too close. Berating her spiked heart rate when she felt his breath on her skin or the brush of his tail over her legs. Chat loved to do that to Marinette, dragging his tail against her whenever he moved passed. Whether or not he noticed the way it affected her she couldn't tell, because he chose not to acknowledge it.

Of course, she would scold herself whenever she responded in kind: teasing him, touching him, stroking his ears, and threading fingers through his hair. At times she swore she was flirting, something she used to only do with Chat Noir as Ladybug, and only under the pretense of camaraderie and friendship. At least, that's what she always convinced herself.

But it didn't seem to matter how often she told herself he was Akuma. When he'd kissed her a few weeks ago, she'd realized she didn't really care.

Ladybug slipped her hands over his body, tracing the line of the twine from one hip bone to one of his thighs, reeling in as she went. She barely noticed how Chat had fallen silent, so preoccupied with her own thoughts. When her fingers brushed his inner thigh his breath came out hard.

And Chat trembled.

"You okay?"

"F-fine,"

She took note of the rasp in his voice. "Is your tail hurting?" She made some slack in the twine for him, hoping it might alleviate some of the pressure.

Chat sucked in a shuddering breath when her hands dragged over his thigh again. "Tail's fine. Really fine."

"Trying not to attack me again?"

He made an amused snort, "you could say that."

"I commend your mighty efforts," she leaned back a bit and patted his hip. "I need you to roll on your stomach again so I can start untangling your other hand, and tail."

Chat obliged, all his muscles shifting under her touch as he squirmed to lay on his belly, hips cocked up so she could reach under him while untangling.

Ladybug attempted to be subtle with her hands, familiarizing herself with his new position. Tracing the twine over a hip, finding the small of his back. She located where his other hand was pinned, and how badly it was tangled. Brushing farther down to orient herself with the base of his tail, a lingering moment fought the urge to explore, but she withdrew before she gave into the temptation.

_Focus! _There was a time and a place to feel up one's partner, and this was neither. But oh... if he hadn't been akumatized this could have been both.

There it was. The cracks beginning to form in her resolve about professionalism. The more she got to know him the harder it got to keep him at arm's length. It felt like she was holding her reasoning together with nothing more than a roll of scotch tape excuses.

But her reasons had been good. They _still_ were. Hawk Moth could come after them, hurt their families. All it would take would be Chat Blanc piecing together that Marinette and Ladybug were the same person, and then Hawk Moth would know. Everyone she loved would be made a target. She was one person and she couldn't protect them all, at all times.

Getting close to Chat... it was dangerous.

And just like that, the nervous, yet excited fluttering in her stomach withered into a churning, sick feeling.

As Ladybug worked, she could feel the stiffness in her fingers, and the numbness setting in. The bite of chilled air against her nose had her puffing out hot breaths to warm it up.

This time when Chat's body trembled, it was accompanied by the distinct sound of teeth chatter. She was reminded of the snow around them, the dropping temperatures, and that Chat was actually still damp despite the good toweling she'd given him.

The faster she could untangle him, the sooner they could hunker down amongst the blankets and wait this out.

"I can't see in this dark. If I free your other hand, do you think you can untangle the rest of your body?"

There was an awkward pause where the only sound she heard was some shifting in the direction of his head, but then Chat muffled out a hasty, "yes."

She trailed hands back up his spine backtracking some of the string that trapped his elbow and mentally mapped the muscles along the way. They were taut and lean, hard and powerful. Some of them twitched beneath the careful brush of her fingers, and she tried not to linger despite her silent appreciation.

He really was a beautiful creature. Chat had always been tall and muscular before, with the body of a gymnast, but the akumas had done something to him, made him taller and more animalistic. Like they were trying to turn him into some kind of beast.

Ladybug absently ran her hands over his shoulder blades, and tried to suppress her own shudder when the muscles bunched like a crouching leopard. The low rumble that churned from his chest sounded very leopard-like as well.

"Oh," she snatched her hands back. "I was uhhh, checking to see if I'd missed any twine up here." She gave an awkward pat where she assumed his shoulder was. "We're all good."

"Please..." He was seething. "Stop torturing me and just free my other hand."

"Yes, of course," she hastily looped the twine off of his elbow. "...Sorry."

His breathy sigh was the only response.

Several tense minutes later, Ladybug managed to free his trapped arm and had just enough time to dive away before Chat began ripping ferally at the rest of the binds. He was a fiendish mass of claws, teeth and fur, made even more frightening because she couldn't see him, but could still detect his chaos through her other senses.

She took this time to blow warm air over her numbed fingers, and wiggle some fresh blood back into her toes.

It didn't take Chat long to free himself, probably because he could see in the dark, and had a much more intimate knowledge of his body than she did.

One moment he was thrashing around his side of the bed, and the next he was crawling over her, chilled breath kissing her skin as she instinctively leaned away from him. The yo-yo was dropped in her lap.

"Let's not repeat this again... ever." His tone was low and sinister, threatening.

She swallowed. "Gotcha."

Chat Blanc gave one last snort, flicking icy cold droplets from his damp hair before retreating and burrowing under a pile of blankets.

Ladybug contemplated staying on the bed. About huddling among the blankets next to the chilled akuma who was shuddering among them.

A chill wracked her body and the urge to curl up and cuddle her Chat threatened to overwhelm her. Part of her knew she would have if she wasn't in the suit. She'd slept next to him before, and it would have been so easy. She could rub warmth back into those freezing ears, and reduce him to a mess of rumbly purring jello. So easy...

Another minute passed and she slipped off the bed, dragging a blanket and pillow along with her.

_The floor was fine. It would be just fine. _

A long agonizing hour later, Chat Blanc bolted up from the blankets. He must have dozed off while they awaited rescue from their icy prison.

An exhale sent a cloud of vapor over his frozen nose. Keen vision detected the glistening particles of frost crawling up the walls. The ice akumas frigid influence continued to encroach upon their pathetic prison. His hair, which had been damp was now feeling stiff, and the length of his tail was alarmingly numb despite having tucked it beneath his legs.

At this rate, he was risking frostbite.

Magenta eyes flickered to the other side of the bed, and was surprised to find it empty.

_Ladybug._

A well of panic churned for half a moment. He scented the air, but couldn't pick up much due to a wet nose.

"_Bug?" _She wouldn't have left him. He wasn't alone. She was...

He poked his head over the edge of the bed.

_Right there._

A shudder of relief, that had nothing to do with the low temperatures.

Eerie glowing eyes studied the spotted heroine cocooned in a single blanket and clutching a pillow to her chest. She was shivering, that much was plain to see. The floor sapping away her body heat despite the cloth barrier and her super suit.

Long fingers of frost crept along the floor, reaching out from the walls. Every few minutes that passed they inched a little further. Another hour or two and they might have reached her; he shuddered to think what they might do. she couldn't possibly see them in this dark.

_Foolish woman. _

A heaviness settled within his chest, painful and longing, sad and wretched. A feeling he hated. Absolutely loathed the way it controlled him. And yet...

Two sets of claws reached down, scooping her off the floor, pulling her up to cradle her small frame against his chest. So cold, She felt like a corpse in his arms.

"...Chat?"

"Hmmm." He shifted on the bed, maneuvering them both to the middle.

"What are you doing?"

"Hush," he turned her word against at her. There was a brief moment, hesitance. Something about her scent curling his senses, but a haze kept him from identifying it as anything other than 'Ladybug'.

He dropped her onto the mattress quite suddenly, pitching a fistful of blankets over her shivering form.

"What about y—" Ladybug started, but was cut off when he flopped down upon the bed next to her.

Chat wriggled beneath the layers, much like a feline, and had to fight the urge to make a circle... or two. Choosing instead to draw close once more until he could feel the brush of her suit against his own.

"I deign to grace you with my warmth. So be grateful."

Ladybug snorted and placed a palm against his chest. "You're freezing."

"As are you," he growled back, moving her hand away from his left pec before she noticed anything through the leather. "Promise to keep your wandering hands to yourself, and I won't gut you." He emphasized his point by pricking the back of her hand with his claws.

Chat started when, despite his warning, she snuggled right up to him; curling into his chest like she belonged there. "You know, if you weren't akumatized I might have gotten the wrong idea here."

"If I weren't akumatized this wouldn't be happening," he rumbled. Resigning himself to this fate, he shifted to get comfortable next to her.

A poignant silence settled over the hero and her former partner. Heavy and suffocating, until Chat sighed into a pillow, and curled his tail over her legs. A weighty arm coming down to rest over her side.

Ladybug hid a sad wistful smile and buried her head against his shoulder. She noted the way his scent filled her nose, delicious leather undertones nearly overpowered by wet cat. There was something comforting about his embrace, akuma or not, and for the first time in hours, she started to feel warmth creep back into cold aching bones.

"A grave injust_ice_," she breathed, not for him and no more than a murmur.

But a single floofy ear twitched.

* * *

**Both this chapter and the previous chapter were written for Eden Daphne, who challenged me to tackle the tropes: bed sharing, snowed in, and must snuggle for warmth.**

**Thank you Eden for the delightful prompts. And your support for this series. **


	10. Rain

**A drabble I wrote in response to a tumblr prompt. People send me prompts for more of my Floofy Chat Blanc stories. Please enjoy.**

**Prompt: His claws glinted, but she knew he would never hurt her.**

* * *

Rivulets of water ran from his hair, and cold droplets dripped off the tip of his nose.

The pitiful awning he sat under did very little to shield him from the torrential rain, and the steps he slumped against were just as wet as the rest of his surroundings.

A gust of icy wind pelted his pathetic form and a shiver worked its way down his body. Chat Blanc curled his soggy tail over his thigh and attempted to tuck it under his stomach. His arms tightened against his chest, tucking his freezing fingers beneath and attempting to hunker down even smaller.

_Alone... Alone and cold... all wet. _

Suddenly the rain stopped pelting him, and he felt the presence of someone standing over him.

Chat opened unfocused eyes and looked up at the person intruding on his misery. Concerned bluebell eyes met his own.

"Hey Chat," she gave him a worried smile, and adjusted the large umbrella in her grip. "Whatcha doing out in the rain?"

Chat bared his fangs and hissed at her.

"Oh," confirmed Marinette. "It's one of those feral spells."

She clumsily moved to sit next to him on the steps, her umbrella knocking against the side of the building a couple of times and showering them with a spatter of rain.

_Cold!_

Chat tensed, his claws glinting in the low light, but she must've known that he would not hurt her. Because even though his wild eyes grew large when she leaned against his side, she didn't so much as flinch.

He loosed a growl from his throat warning her that she shouldn't get too close.

"Oh shush, Chat. You're freezing."

He swallowed the noise. But kept his ears flattened against his skull, almost disappearing into his sopping wet hair.

"This is the umbrella Adrien gave me, so don't you dare ruin it," she warned, lifting a hand to stroke the top of his head.

At the first touch he flinched and he curled up in a tighter ball. The physical contact wasn't unexpected, but his mind was still lost in a scared and defensive snarl. After a few strokes along the top of his head she managed to unearth a soggy cat ear and rub a spot along the inside.

_Feels good..._

Like magic the tension began to run out of him. Without thinking he pressed his head into her touch.

_More... nice..._

Marinette gave a soft chuckle, and continued to rub the spot. His favorite spot. The nicest sport she could ever touch. The spot that made him want to crawl in her lap and melt over her legs.

"I've been looking all over for you. I hope you didn't terrorize the city too much today."

"Pprrrmmm..." it was the most coherent thing he could muster.


	11. Scenting Marinette

**This one was written for a prompt submitted by a follower on tumblr. **

**Prompt: Floofy-eared Chat Blanc... Mari is asleep in his bed... he's wide awake watching her sleep... her smell is just intoxicating to him... and all these fluffy, sweet scenarios keep running through his head... at first he hates it... but the scenarios begin to sound better and better.**

* * *

Something startled Chat Blanc from a very restful sleep. He jerked up, ears swiveling wildly in every direction, wild eyes searching the confines of his studio apartment.

He'd thought that for a fraction of a second he saw something red zipping around his miniature fridge. But when he narrowed his pupils to focus on that area...

_Nothing_. Just the empty stillness of an abandoned building, and its creaky old pipes.

Outside the city continued to thrive, with its chatter and cars, the usual city din. Somewhere several floors down, rats scurried. He only heard them occasionally because they never dared to get close to his apartment. His scent covering everything on his floor, warning them to stay far far away.

He tried shifting to get a better view of his surroundings, but something mumbled a protest and tugged at the bell on his chest. Finally Chat took notice of the weight in his lap and across much of his chest.

His head cocked down, blown pupils fixating on the woman sound asleep on his bed. In his bed. On _him. _

Large fluffy ears swiveled forward, suddenly fascinated in her even breathing, and sleepy murmurs. Moments passed spent simply listening to her, and finally Chat's own breathing calmed. His muscles relaxed bit by bit until he was reclining comfortably against the head board of his bed again.

"Hey," he prodded, shifting muscles beneath her in an attempt to rouse her. "You shouldn't be here." Chat attempted to peel her away, pushing her hand from his bell. "It's time to go."

Marinette moaned and tightened her grip, snuggling deeper against him.

_Fuck, she was cute. _

Chat's head thumped back against the headboard, and he expelled a hard sigh.

"You're not cute," he argued at the ceiling. "You're annoying and pesky. A relentless little mouse with a tenacious spirit who won't stop invading my nest."

"Mmmm."

"Don't 'mmmm' me. You're exhausting."

She didn't respond, clearly still asleep despite her murmurings.

Chat took a sharp inhale and the length of his tail lifted off the bed, the nuances of the scents in the air causing it to curl.

He took another breath, lifted his head and sniffed in Marinette's direction.

A pause.

Chat suddenly stuffed his nose into her hair, and took a long inhale.

Thoughts scattered, and a thrill of excitement arced down his spine into his tail, causing it to whip and slap the top of the bed.

The sudden whap noise was enough to startle him form the spell, and Chat recoiled away from her hair. He gave a snort to clear the scents from his nose, blinking away his blown pupils in an attempt to compose himself.

"You don't smell _that_ good," he insisted to no one, and had to turn his head off to the side.

Despite his declaration he attempted to not breathe through his nose. Then tried to bury his face in a nearby pillow, but her scent had pervaded that as well. Finally he thumped his head against the headboard again.

"See, this is why I don't want you sitting on my nest. Everything stinks of you now."

Marinette stretched a bit, and he thought she'd woken up until she snuggled back against him, her thigh settling between his legs. The friction caused him to seize up and dig his claws into the bedding.

_Nope. _Chat panted through clenched teeth, trying to control his sudden spiking heart rate. _No. no. Nope. _She shifted in his lap again, and Chat had to suppress a growl. _Nopenopenope._

_It's because I just woke up. That's all this is._

He took another stuttering breath and cursed her smell tainting all the air in the apartment.

_Her scent does not turn you on. She's not cute, you do not want to entwine yourself around her like pocket full of headphone chords. _

Chat began kneading the blankets in an attempt to calm himself, and to distract his traitorous hands. His eyes wandered down her backside before he forced himself to stare at the ceiling again.

_You do not want to knead her ass. This problem is not because of her. It's very early morning and you probably need to pee, that's all this is. _

Without permission the memory of when Marinette nearly kissed him resurfaced. It was a memory he'd spent many nights lying wide awake meticulously dissecting. Now it was haunting him with a vengeance, until all he wanted to do was pin Marinette to the bed and ravish her mouth.

Find out what that kiss would actually feel like. Find out what she actually tasted like.

Hear the way she mewled beneath him and against his lips.

_And why shouldn't he? _Chat's ears perked forward. His nose scented the air again, eyes losing focus, and this time his mouth parted like a cat's when it smelled something it very much liked.

_Why can't I kiss her? What's stopping me? She clearly likes me. Touching, petting, she could be petting me. Or I could be petting her, _his mind mused. His thoughts swam like someone had overturned a bucket of fantasies in his head.

"Chat?" Marinette's sleepy voice disrupted his thoughts. "Are you alright?"

Chat Blanc snapped his mouth shut immediately, and tried to blink away his blown pupils. "I'm f-fine," but his voiced came out much rougher than usual.

"You were panting really loud, are you sure?" She still sounded pretty groggy, but there was honest concern there.

"Yes," he growled, finally managing to reign in the all the traitorous emotions that had overtaken him before. "I'm just hot. It's fucking hot in here—get off of me! Go lay on someone else you annoying woman." Chat dumped her off his lap and lurched up from the mattress. He staggered from the bed and had to stop himself from cupping his crotch.

"Where are you going?"

"To take a shower," he snapped. "Mind your own business."


	12. Catnip

**Another couple of Chat Blanc Tumblr prompts.**

**Prompts: "It's not lavender... it's catmint" and "I would greatly appreciate a one shot with floofy-eared chat blanc high on catnip... you know based on your beautiful art... so... pretty please?**

* * *

The trapdoor made a startling noise when she threw it open, making her balcony visitor jump.

"Hi, Chat." Marinette poked her head up through the opening, smiling at the bristling akuma. His tail was completely fluffed out, ears curled back like horns as he eyed her with wide blown pupils.

He wasn't on all fours like she would have expected, but his posture was still very hunched, arching the middle of his back and baring his side and shoulder to her. Very much like a cat trying to make itself look bigger and more intimidating.

"Whatcha doing up here?" she asked, managing, but just barely, no to laugh at his dramatic display. Tikki had been the one to inform her that he was prowling her balcony. He normally didn't poke around her house, or hang out, preferring the isolation of his own place where he would be less likely to have a run in with Ladybug.

Chat Blanc didn't respond to her question, still too preoccupied with his posturing. Of which she was not the least bit intimidated by. In the warm afternoon light he looked a lot less scary than how he normally appeared.

A few scattered leaves and flower petals caught her eye, and Marienette's attention was drawn to the carnage that befell all her balcony plants.

All of them. Every single plant had been destroyed. Stems chewed, stalks stripped, a few pots were overturned, and the leaves that didn't get eaten lay scattered on the ground in puddles of green stained saliva.

"You ate. my plants."

Chat seemed to finally compose himself, his fur smoothing out as he relaxed against the railing.

"I was hungry."

"You could have asked me for food!"

"Or I could have stolen some food," he countered, and shook, making his ears slap the sides of his head, and sending a cloud of white cat fur into the air. He moved to hop up on the lengthier stone ledge that lined the side of her balcony. After a deep stretch he flopped down across the stone. "You should be pleased that I didn't. How kind of me, maybe I'll cough up an akuma because of all my selflessness," Chat finished in a mocking tone.

Marinette pulled herself up to sit with her legs still dangling through the opening of the door. "Oh, I'm so proud of you~," she muttered sarcastically. "Now I don't think you deserve this present I picked up for you."

That got his attention.

Chat's entire posture went from insouciant to attentive in a manner of seconds, ear perked up and tail raised in interest. What he didn't express with words his body expressed in It's own language, and it continued to surprise her how much more expressive he became with his body language since becoming an akuma.

"I didn't destroy all the flowers," he finally amended. "I left the lavender alone."

"Oh good," she rolled her eyes. "The plant I planted to deter you, and you politely sparred it."

"Reward me for being so merciful," he rumbled, rolling onto his back to expose his belly.

"Well," she dipped back into the room just far enough to snag a bottle off her bed using her toes. She also snagged a scarf, and dragged both things back onto the balcony with her. "I picked this up from the pet store. It's liquid catnip."

Chat Blanc had the audacity to look offended. "That stuff won't work on me, Princess. I'm not some pathetic house cat."

"That's sounds like a challenge, Kitty." Marinette held up the scarf and aimed the spray bottle at it.

"Are you hoping it will make me play with that?" He eyed the green fabric with indifference, before turning his eyes back to her. "What if I shred it?"

"I made this for Chat Noir, so it's yours regardless." Marinette smashed down the top of the nozzle and a cloud of liquid sprayed her in the face. "Shit!"

She dropped the bottle and Chat Blanc began howling in laughter when she began furiously scrubbing at her eyes.

"Shitshitshitshit."

"I was wrong, Marinette," he snickered from nearby. "I _am_ enjoying this."

Marinette scooped up the bottle of nip and threw it at him. Clearly missing when she didn't hear it connect with anything, and realizing she was probably going to have to clean it up from the street below. "Leave me alone. God damn, it burns so bad!" She tried to mop tears from her eyes, but the stinging pain kept them running.

Chat felt a lump of guilt settle in his gut as he watched her scrub in pain. After a second of deliberation he hopped up from the ledge, and crawled down onto the lawn chair next to her. "Are you alright?" he snatched the neglected scarf from the ground, lifting it to her cheek.

Something in the air tickled his nose, and Chat sniffed to clear it.

"I'll be fine," she spat and swatted the scarf away. "I just need to wash this stuff out of my eyes."

He felt something rush in the base of his skull, and sniffed again. This time his pupils expanded, black almost overtaking the magenta.

Rational thought seemed to fall away from his mind, chased out by a flood of something else, something that made his head swim and suddenly all he wanted was to rub his face all over that delicious smell.

It hardly seemed an obstacle anymore that the delicious smell was all over Marinette's face.

Chat seized her hands, pulling them away from her eyes, and when she sputtered in protest he chuffed to shush her.

"Let me," he rumbled, moving closer until he was practically on top of her. "Let me... I can do it..."

"What are you—"

Chat Blanc pressed his cheek against hers, nuzzling gently and causing Marinette to trail off into stunned silence. Then he did it again, and again. Each time pushing his cheek a little harder, and brushing his large floofy ears over her stinging eyes.

_Smells... Smells good..._

A purr shuddered in his chest, bubbling up from his throat as he continued to nuzzle her. The urge to cover himself in that scent almost too intense to resist.

He felt her shift in his hold, attempting to disentangle herself from him. "Ch-Chat, I don't think we should..." Chat's claws dug into the back of her shirt, causing Marinette to hiss.

He was conscious enough to register that he hurt and retracted his claws, but continued to mop the catnip off her face with his ears.

A small lick, a sharp intake of breath.

The tingling urge to nip her cheek.

His lips parted, canines brushing against sensitive skin, and he could hear Marinette sharply inhale.

_No!_ He jerked away, and chose to lick her forehead instead. _What did people call that sort of cat behavior? A love bite? I won't be caught dead doing that._

He made a huffing noise, more to himself than to anyone else, and continued to rub his face all over her face. He bumped his nose against her closed eyes, before dragging his tongue over one of her brows. Once that brow was clean he rubbed his ear over the spot, then continued with the next one.

Marinette giggled when his fur tickled the inside of her nose, flinching away to tease, "I thought you said it wouldn't work on you."

Chat pulled her back and nipped the tip of her nose in warning, before releasing a noise like a sigh and growl, that hardly had any affect because he couldn't seem to stop purring. "If you tell anyone about this I promise I will kill you."


	13. Akumatized Marinette

**Written in response to some ask prompts on tumblr. Not sure if this one is canon to this AU. but still fun none the less and I'm working on a sequel to it. ;3**

**Prompts: "Don't Fight it, princess," and "A damsel in distress who is actually a villain that captures heroes that come to save her."**

* * *

"Wake up!" he screamed. "Wake up damn it!"

Chat Blanc shook the woman in his arms but it only caused more blood to dribble from her mouth and nose.

"Please, love," he implored. "Don't do this to me."

She was barely breathing and unresponsive.

"Ladybug! Where the hell are you!? Why are you never around when I fucking need you!?"

He looked around at the destruction he had caused while fighting for the akuma. He'd gotten the butterfly but at what cost? Ladybug had disappeared sometime during the brawl, and Marinette had gotten caught in the collateral damage. He didn't even know she was there. Chat swore he'd left her back at his place asleep in his bed.

_Save her. How can I save her?_ _How the fuck can I save her!? I'm the embodiment of destruction..._

The fluttering of butterflies in his stomach made a wave of nausea run through him.

It was an option.

"Forgive me," he whispered.

It was his _only_ option.

Chat Blanc closed his claws into a fist, hesitated for half a second, then punched himself in the stomach as hard as he could muster.

"Haauk!" he hacked painfully. A second later he began gagging and had to clap a hand over his mouth.

The fluttering in his stomach was now in his mouth. The acrid foul taste of akuma scales coating his tongue.

When he was sure another one wouldn't come up, he took a steadying breath through his nose and closed his eyes before he could talk himself out of this idea.

Chat Blanc pulled Marinette close, cradling her in his arms like a mate, and closed his mouth over hers.

He used his right hand to part her lips, and used his tongue to push the writhing akuma from his mouth to hers.

Chat kept his mouth pressed to her lips, and pinched her nose, forcing her to swallow the butterfly if she wanted to breath.

Almost instantly the magic took and she began to fight him.

He broke away and held her tightly, one arm keeping her from thrashing while the other kept her mouth held shut. "Don't fight it, princess," he said in a low tone. "Don't fight me."

"_Mmmmmmmeeaaaaaaa_!" Marinette screamed behind his hand, tears bursting from the corners of her eyes that had suddenly taken on a purple glow.

Something tiny and red zipped in Chat's peripheral vision, and bit down on his ear. He swiped the little bug away, ignoring it to focus on the woman in his grip.

"It's alright. I got you," he assured. "You're strong. Just use its power and nothing else."

She continued to struggle violently for another thirty seconds and Chat was afraid he might break her bones from trying to keep her still.

Then she suddenly went limp.

Black and violet magic pooled around her stomach, and crawled over the rest of her body, leaving a clothing change in its wake. With the wave of magic her wounds began to close over, and the early signs of bruises faded away.

"That's it," Chat whispered. "That's my girl."

He marveled at her change in attire, curious what it was meant to reflect. Her civilian clothes were replaced by a Victorian steam punk esque style red and black corset. Low cut to tease ample amounts of her cleavage, her shoulders were bare but she had trailing sleeves running down her arms. Her legs were now clad in tight black leggings and short leather boots.

She looked like a damsel from a vampire drama.

He brought his searching eyes back to meet hers, and his stomach dropped.

The outline of a blazing purple butterfly shone before her face.

Chat Blanc knew what that meant.

Hawk Moth was attempting to communicate with her.

"NO!" he screamed, and shook her again. Hoping to draw her out of it. "NO! You can't have her!"

A wicked smile curled her lips, and her glowing purple eyes had a faraway look.

"Fight him, Mari! Don't you dare give in!"

"Don't worry Chaton," she murmured, and placed a gloved hand on his wrist. Magic burned through the leather, and where once his white cuff had been an iron shackle materialized. The sudden weight dragging his arm towards the ground.

"I'll let you save me~" Marinette finished with a hollow cackle.

* * *

**Again, ****undecided on how canon this is to my Floofy-eared Chat Blanc AU. But let me know how you feel about it.**


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